LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



(i^Hp> ©uptjrig^ !f u. 

Shelf. .LEijDar 

UNITED STxiTES OF AMEEliOA. 




DAVID P. PAGE. 



THEORY AND PRACTICE 



OF 



TEACHING; 



OR, 



THE MOTiyES ^MD METHODS OF 
GOOD SCHOOL-KEEPING. 



DAVID P. PAGE, A.M., 

Latb Principal of the State Normal School, 
Albany, New York. 



WITH A SUMMARY OF THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS 
OF THE AUTHOR BY 

WILLIAM F. PHELPS, A.M. 






'DEC 26^393 ,^ 

CHICAGO: ^Y o, ^,^'' 

A. FLANAGAH ;fi:^rJ^j 



LBm5 



Copyright, 1893. 

By A. FLANAGAN, 

Chicago. 



PREFACE. 



Many a meritorious book has failed to find readers by 
reason of a toilsome preface. If the -following volume 
meets a similar fate, whatever its merits, it shall lack_a 
like excuse. 

This work has had its origin in a desire to contribute 
something toward elevating an important and rising 
profession. Its matter comprises the substance of a part 
of the course of lectures addressed to the classes of the 
Institution under my charge, during the past two years. 
Those lectures, unwritten at first, were delivered in a 
familiar, colloquial style — their main object being the 
inculcation of such practical views as would best pro- 
mote the improvement of the teacher. In writing the 
matter out for the press, the same style, to considerable 
extent, has been retained, as I have written with an aim 
at usefulness rather than rhetorical effect. 

If the term theory in the title suggests to any mind 
the bad sense sometimes conveyed by that word, I would 
simply say that I have not been dealing in the specula- 
tive dreams of the closet, but in convictions derived 
from the realities of the school-room during some twenty 
years of actual service as a teacher. Theory may justly 

8 



4 PREFACE. 

mean the science distinguished from the art of Teach- 
ing; but as in practice these should never be divorced, 
so in the following chapters I have endeavored con- 
stantly to illustrate the one by the other. 

If life should be spared and other circumstances 
should warrant the undertaking, perhaps a further 
course comprising the " Details of Teaching " may, at 
some future time, assume a similar form to comiplete 
my original design. 

David P. Page. 
State Nokmal School. ) 
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 1, 1847. J 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Summahy of the Life and Teachings of the Authob. 7 

CHAPTER I. 

The Spirit of the Teacher — 24 

CHAPTER 11. 

Responsibility of th3 Teacher 29 

Section I —The Neglected Tree 29 

Skction II. — Extent of Responsibility 33 

Section III.— The Auburn Prison 48 

CHAPTER III. 

Personal Habits op the Teacher 54 

CHAPTER IV. 

Literary Qualifications op the Teacher 63 

CHAPTER V. 

Right Views of Education 78 

CHAPTER VI. 

Right Modes op Teaching 87 

Section I. — Pouring in Process 89 

Section II.— Drawing-out P. ocess 91 

Section HI— The More Exoelleu Wny 95 

Section IV. —Waking up Mind 97 

Section V.— Remarks 108 

CHAPTER VII. 

Conducting Recitations 114 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Exciting Interest in Study 128 

Section I. — luceutives — Emululion 129 

Section II.— Prizes and Rewards 135 

Section III.— Proper luceutives 146 

CHAPTER IX. 

School Government 155 

Section I.— Requisites in the Teacher for Good Govei-n- 

meut 155 

Section II. — Means of Securing Good Order 165 

Section III. — Punishments— Improper— Proper . .... 180 

Section IV. — Corporal Punishment. .' — 197 

Section V. — Limitations and Suggestions 209 

CHAPTER X. 

School Arrangeivients 219 

Section I.— Plan of Day's Work 226 

Section II. — Interruptions .... 232 

Section III. — Recesses 236 

Section IV. — Assignment of Lessons 238 

Section V.— Reviews 240 

Section VI. — Examiuations — Exhibitions — Celebra- 
tions 243 

CHAPTER XL 

The Teacher's Relation to the Parents of His Pupils. 247 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Teacher's Relation to His Profession 254 

CHAPTER XIIL 
Miscellaneous Suggestions 274 

Section I.— Things to be avoided 274 

Section II.— Things to be performed 288 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Rewards of the Teacher 311 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE 



SUMMARY OF HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS.* 
By "William F. Phelps, A.M. 

Early History. — David Perkins Page was born at Epping, 
New Hampshire, July 4, 1810, and died at Albany, New York, 
January 1, 1848, at the early age of thirty-seven years and six 
months. His father was a farmer in moderate circumstances, 
and the earlier years of the son were passed in the health- 
giving employment of rural life in the old Granite State, which, 
however unlavish in bringing forth the kindly fruits of the 
earth, has produced many noble men, who have adorned the 
history of their country by valiant service in behalf of its civil 
and educational interests. 

Even while a boy David Page exhibited a strong love for 
learning and intellectual pursuits, often importuning his 
father for a chance to gratify his desire through the advan- 
tages of a school. But for some time this precious privilege 
was denied him, because the parent had other objects in view, 
being determined to prepare the son for the humble life of a 
New England farmer, that he might succeed him in the pos- 
session of the maternal homestead. There was therefore a 
struggle between them which was earnest and long continued. 

A Crisis. — At length, at the age of sixteen years, the son 
was attacked by a dangerous illness. For a time he was 
apparently trembling between life and death, and the hope of 
recovery was almost abandoned. At this critical juncture, 

* From Tencheis' Manual, No. 20, copyrighted by E. L. Kellogg & Co., 
New York and Ciiicago, by permission. 



8 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

when, if ever, the parental heart would be opened to the 
appeals of affection, the pale and prostrate son extorted a 
promise from his father that if he recovered he should go to 
a neighboring academy and prepare himself for the duties of 
a teacher. 

A Heroic Purpose. — One scarcely knows whether most to 
admire the sublime heroism that in an hour like this could rise 
above the pangs of preseur pain or the fear of death, and grasp 
at the hope of future usefulness and the solid pleasures that 
learning confers, or smile at the ingenious stratagem which 
overthrew the citadel of parental prejudice, and overcame 
every obstacle to the realization of a long-cherished and noble 
purpose. Probably no incident of his life so palpably exhibits 
the great secret of the success that crowned his efforts — an 
ardent longing to be a moving force upon and among others of 
his race, which even the menace of death could not destroy. 

Begins His Education— An Episode.— Recovering at length, 
he was, according to promise, allov.ed to begin his education, 
and accordingly entered Hampton Academy. "Here," says 
Horace Mann, "he encountered, for the first time in l)is life, 
that feeling so common and yet so contemptible, which assigns 
social rank and estimation not according to moral and intel- 
lectual worth, but to the cloth one can afford to buy, or to the 
tailor one employs. He was dressed in the plain garb of a 
farmer's boy. He met at the Academy specimens of that class 
of young men upon the texture and style of whose garments 
their parents had expended their money and skill, but had 
reserved none for the refinement and elevation of their minds. 
Polished on the outside, they were the rudest of boors within ; 
gentlemen only so far as an ape or a swine might be called a 
gentlemen if arrayed in fine linen, broadcloth, or silk ; whose 
bodies nuiy live in a palace, but whose souls grovel in a sty. 
To their gibes and jeers he was subjected, and doubtless his 
mind here got what Paley calls ' a holding turn '—an unspeak- 
able contempt for the pretensions that are founded on wealth 
or habiliments, and a profound religious respect for moral 
worth." 

His First School. — Having spent a few months at Hampton, 
David Page ventured upon the experiment of his first school. 
We have no account of hi.s success in this the earliest attempt 
at the chosen work of his life, save from the few casual remarks 
occasionally made by himself to his intimate friends. During 
these early efforts, in the light of his later and riper experi- 
ence, he would naturally be inclined to underrate their value. 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 9 

Deeply imbued as he was, however, even at this period, with 
an unquenchable love for his calling, it may be safely assumed 
that he did naught knowingly " to mar the handiwork of God." 

Returns to the Academy. — Having completed the term of 
his first school, he re-eutered the Academy, still bent upon 
perfecting his qualifications for his chosen work. The entire 
period spent at the Academy was less than one year. Having 
embraced the profession of teaching as a permanent calling, 
however, he taught district-schools for two successive winters 
at Epping, New Hampshire, and Newbury, Mass., respectively. 
The common schools of New England at this time were in 
session but three months during the season. Having closed 
his engagement at Newbury, therefore, he opened a private 
school at the same place, having on the first day but five 
pupils, but closing the term with a full complement, thus 
demonstrating his fitness in the eyes of the people for the 
work he had undertaken. 

A Close and Laborious Student. — Although now debarred 
from the privileges of the Academy, and borne down with thc- 
exacting duties of the schoolroom, yet he did not relax his 
efforts to improve his scholarship, nor allow his powers to 
"rust out unused," but applied himself most assiduously to 
study, keeping in advance of his classes in those branches which 
were new to himself, and enriching his mind with tliose stores 
of "collateral" knowledge, concerning which the friends of 
his later years have heard him so frequently and earnestly 
speak. Thus by his persevering attention to study and enthu- 
siastic devotion to duty he greatly increased his reputation by 
actual merit, and at the age of twenty-one (five years from his 
entry into Hami)ton Academy as a student) he became asso- 
ciate principal of the Newburyport High School, having in 
charge the English Department. 

Of the memories and associations clustering around his con- 
nection with this school he ever spoke in terms of the warm- 
est enthusiasm. The experience here acquired seems to have 
been of the most varied and valuable character, and his sub- 
sequent addresses to teachers were often enriched with inci- 
dents and illustrations of school-life drawn from this source. 
To his associate principal he was attached with a devotion 
which none but noble, generous, and unselfish hearts can feel. 
The testimony of his associate after his lamented death was 
expressed in these words: "Our connection was intimate, 
long continued, and uniformly pleasant. I think we never 
had a difference of opinion in regard to school arrangements 



10 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

or regulations, and every plan we adopted was the result of 
consultation between us." 

His Frank and Manly Character.— The character of Mr. 
Page for frankness, honesty, and straightforwardness, as well 
as his hatred of fraud, and the secret trickery by which sor- 
did, ignoble, and unworthy souls seek to live and prosper, 
was most strikingly illustrated in the following incident, re- 
lated by Horace Mann : 

"While principal of the Newburyport High School, the author 
of a series of school-books laid a plan to ensnare Mr. Page, 
and secure his influence in favor of their introduction into the 
Newburyport schools. Supposing that Mr. Page would.be 
actuated by mercenary motives like himself, he approached 
him on the side of acquisitiveness. Being a member of a 
school committee which gave much higher salaries to masters 
than Mr. Page was receiving, he used the lure of promotion to 
a better rewarded field of labor. He represented to Mr. Page 
that a vacancy was about to occur which he, the bookmaker, 
could probably fill with his own nominee, and in flattering 
terras proffered his influence to Mr. Page in favor of the suc- 
cessorship. But at the close of this disinterested interview 
was a pregnant sug-gestion that before the transfer from the 
old to the new position Mr. Page should secure the adoption 
of the aforesaid author's books in the schools of the town he 
was to leave. This opened his eyes. On inquiry he found 
that no such vacancy was about to occur, and that the whole 
train of inducements which had been set before him was a 
fabrication, having no other object than to suborn his influ- 
ence in favor of the books in question. "More than once," 
says Mr. Mann, " have 1 heard Mr. Page express his scorn and 
detestation of this piece of knavery, with the hope that the 
time might sometime come when, at some meeting of the 
friends of education, in the presence of the culprit himself, he 
might have an opportunity to recount these facts and publicly 
fasten their infamy upon their ruthor." 

From Newburyport to Albany. — Mr. Page's connection 
with the Newburyport High School continued for a period of 
twelve years. He was thus acquiring that rich store of ex- 
perience needed to prepare him for a higher and still more 
responsible position. While in the High Schools he was asso- 
ciated with that grand movement led by Horace Mann for the 
regeneration of the public schools through the establishment 
of normal schools, teachers' institutes and associations. He 
took an active part in the discussion of educational problems, 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. II 

and in the reforms needed to raise the schools from the ex- 
treme depression of those times. 

The Movement in New York. — The Empire State had been 
making unsatisfactory experiments in the direction of training 
teachers. The need of training had been universally admitted, 
it is apparent. To meet this need teachers' classes in acad- 
emies had been established through a long series of years, but 
they had not yielded an appreciable benefit to her common 
schools:, so the State at length resolved through her Legisla- 
ture upon a trial of a teachers' seminary. Her leading minds 
had come fully to acquiesce in the sentiment that "as is the 
teacher so is the school ; " and believing that teachers, like 
lawyers, doctors, and divines, need special preparation, they 
sought earnestly for an efficient method of solving the problem. 
The' experiments already tried had involved immense expendi- 
tures and had progressed through a period of ten years, and 
yet had proved of little or no benefit. 

Establishment of a Norma,! School. — An able committee 
was appointed by the Legislature of 1844 to investigate and 
report upon the expediency of establishing a " Normal School, 
for the instruction and practice of teachers in the science of 
e'ducation and the art of instructing the young." This com- 
mittee, after a careful personal inspection of the Normal 
Schools of Massachusetts, made an able report in favor of 
such an institution as an experiment for five years. The re- 
port having been favorably received, a bill* was promptly 
passed by a large majority of both branches of the Legislature, 
and authorizing an appropriation of $10,000 a year for five 
years for its support. An executive committee was also 
authorized to be chosen by the Regents of the University for 
the care and supervision of the school. 

Selects Mr. Page as Principal. — This committee, consist- 
ing of such men as Colonel Samuel Young, Bishop Alonzo 
Potter, Francis Dwight, and others, then held most earnest 
consultation and made most earnest inquiry for the right man 
to place at. the head of such an institution. As Horace Mann 
had declared tliat Normal Schools were indispensable to ele- 
vate teaching from the degraded state into which it had fallen, 
consequent upon the practice of admitting as teachers all who 
possessed the merest rudiments of scholarship, they sought his 
advice in their efforts to find a man who had just conceptions 
of teaching, and who could impart them to others. Mr. Mann 
unhesitatingly pierced the name of Mr. Page before the com- 
mittee as the ablest and fittest man for this important place. 



12 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

Correspondence was accordingly opened with him. In reply 
to the first communication he addressed numerous inquiries 
to the committee touching the plan of organization, manage- 
ment, and other details, that were so pointed, well chosen, 
and appropriate that Colonel Young at once exclaimed, before 
the reading of the reply was finished, "That is the man we 
need," and expressed himself as entirely satisfied without 
further evidence as to his pre-eminent qualifications for tlie 
important position. Tlie selection of the right man as the 
guiding genius of the new institution was, however, deemed 
to be so essential to its welfare and success that Rev. Dr. Pot- 
ter was commissioned to visit Mr. Page at his home in New- 
buryport, and satisfy himself by a personal interview of his 
fitness for the high duties to be devolved upon him. Calling 
at the residence of Mr. Page Rev. Dr. Potter found him in his 
working-day suit, engaged in some mechanical work con- 
nected with the improvement of his dwelling. The doctor was 
so prepossessed with the personal appearance, dignified bearing, 
and conversation of the stranger that a single half-iiour's con- 
versation suflSced to satisfy him ; and as authorized by his 
associates on the committee, he closed the negotiation that 
secured the services of one who gave to the Normal School 
such a character and standing for usefulness, eflSciency, and 
influence as converted a doubtful experiment into an estab- 
lished fact long before the period of probation had expired. 

Enters on His New Field of Labor. — Mr. Page look leave 
of his charge at Newbury port near the middle of December, 
1844, amid the most flattering demonstrations of gratitude 
and affectionate regard from those to whom he liad been in- 
structor, counsellor, and friend. Arriving at Albany but a 
ftw days before the date designated for the commencement of 
the Normal School, he found everything in a state of utmost 
confusion. The rooms for its accommodation yet resounded 
with the noise of the carpenters' tools. There was no plan of 
organization; no books, apparatus, or other appliances of 
instruction necessary to the successful operation of a school 
looked upon with hope and yet with fear and trembling by a 
few, with distrust and opposition by many. At a glance his 
quick and penetrating eye })ereeived the magnitude of the task 
before him, and he applied himself to the work with all the 
earnestness and industry that so eminently distinguished his 
brief and glorious career. Order soon sprang out of con- 
fusion, form and comeliness out of chaos, life and animation 
out of passivity and dulness. The first term of twelve weeks 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 1} 

began with less than twenty-five pupils, and closed with nearly 
a hundred. So marked and favorable, however, was the im- 
pression made during this short space of time, that at the be- 
ginning of the second term, in the spring of 1845, the number 
of students increased to nearly two hundred. 

Devotion to Duty. — Mr. Page seemed to realize his respon- 
sibility with all the keenness of a truly conscientious and sen- 
sitive nature. No duty was left unperformed. Every interest 
connected with the welfare of his charge was watched and 
guarded. He labored in season and out of season to secure a 
liberal and enlightened appreciation of the special objects aiid 
true aims of the Normal School by his pupils and the public. 
Not content with the faithful fulfilment of his obligations as 
a teacher in the schoolroom, when evening came he visited 
his flock, encouraged the weak and disheartened, mildly re- 
proved the wayward, and ministered to the sick and afiQicted. 
He seetned to regard his school as his family, and felt it in- 
cumbent upon himself to watch over their physical and moral 
well-being as well as their intellectual progress. His pupils 
in return looked up to him as a father, a wise counsellor, and 
unselfish friend, upon whom they might safely rely. It rarely 
falls to the lot of many teachers to win so fully and unre- 
servedly the confidence, esteem, and affection of their students 
as did this noble man. 

Looked Broadly at Education. — Standing thus at the head 
of the new experiment in New York State, Mr. Page became 
identified with the advancement of education at large in the 
entire State. He realized that if the wisdom of the establish- 
ment of the normal school was to be vindicated, the public 
mind must be informed and educated ; the people must be 
brought up to understand it and support it. To this end his 
vacations were largely spent in attendance upon teachers' 
institutes. His eloquent voice was raised at the associations 
and conventions of the friends of education whenever an 
opportunity was presented for striking a blow in behalf of the 
cause of an enlightened training of the teacher for his high 
office. During the autumn vacation of 1847, he felt he had 
gained the ear of the public ; he convinced all who heard him 
that the public school was worthy the expenditure of fostering 
care and the employment of teachers possessing special fitness. 
To present these then novel thoughts he worked incessantly, 
travelling from county to county, from institute to institute, 
delivering frequently from four to five lectures each day, to 
crowded audiences, upon those themes that had assumed i^ 



I4 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

his mind an exalted importance. It was the cause of the 
Child he was pleading. 
The Harvest Was Plenteous, but Right Laborers Few.— 

While at a gathering of teachers, on one of these occasions, he 
addressed a long letter to one of his associates, in which he 
alluded feelingly to " the extreme youth and inexperience of 
most of those in attendance ; " and he continued : " It makes 
my heart sick when I reflect that so many of the schools of the 
Empire State are to be confided to the care of these Misses, 
but just in their teens, and boys who might yet profit by the 
wholesome advice and restraints of parental authority." 

It was Mr. Pagers one idea that teaching was so sacred and 
important an oflace that only the best hearts and minds should 
engage in it. His own heart was wholly in his work. His 
interest was not a sordid, selfish, pecuniary interest. The 
aspirations of his noble soul overleaped the lust for wealth or 
power, and he sought those rewards that come from devotion 
to the welfare of humanity. The only recompense he looked 
for was that which awaits the pure in heart and the diligent 
in well-doing, and that recompense was not long delayed. 

Overestimated His Strength — The excessive and unremit- 
ting toils of the autumn vacation of 1847, so closely followed 
by the exacting duties of the succeeding term, were more 
than a constitution like his could endure. The term opened 
auspiciously. Stimulated by the fervent appeals of Mr. Page 
at the institutes in behalf of a higher grade of qualification, 
large numbers of pupils presented themselves for admission. 
The accommodations of the school were scarcely equal to the 
demand upon them. The severe tax thus imposed upon his 
impaired strength at last overcame his powers of endurance, 
and he was prostrated upon a bed of sickness. 

His Last Days. — At a meeting of the Faculty of the Nor- 
mal School held at his residence, a few weeks after the open- 
ing of the fall term of 1847, he appeared more than ordinarily 
weary and careworn. He had just completed his first series 
of calls upon the students at their boarding-places, as was his 
wont, and he remarked to his associates: "I have visited 
them all ; it is a severe task. It is too much for me alone, and 
I must hereafter have your aid." At this conference the con- 
dition of the school and the standing of the students in their 
classes was discussed, and the records made up preparatory 
to a short holiday vacation and to a visit anticipated by him- 
self to his old home and friends in Massachusetts. It was to 
be a reunion of friends and relatives, such as the merry holi- 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 1 5 

days of New England so often witness, and such as the true 
sons of New England know well how to appreciate and enjoy. 
Mr. Page was quite cheerful during the evening in view of the 
promised rest and recreation, but complained of slight indis- 
position. 

The meeting broke up early, and he immediately retired for 
the night, but little rest came. His indisposition, which proved 
to be pneumonia, increased with the approach of morning. 
Little apprehension was, however, felt for his safety until the 
night of the fourth day, when, just before a marked change in 
his condition occurred, he communicated to a friend in attend- 
ance upon him his presentiment that he would not recover. His 
disease soon assumed a more violent type, baffling the skill of 
his medical attendants, and on the morning of Jan. 1, 1848, 
death closed the scene, and he passed to that higher life of 
peace, purity, and blessedness, which to realize somewhat on 
earth through the right education of the children was ever the 
goal of his highest aspirations and hope. 

Some Striking Coincidences. — In reviewing the life of this 
noble man some striking coincidences will be noticed which 
are worthy of special mention. Born on the anniversary of 
our country's natal-day, he died on the birthday of a New 
Year. Again, precisely six months before his death he made 
an excursion to his former home in Massachusetts. As it was 
a trip for recreation, he seemed bent upon seeing and showing 
everything of special interest that presented itself for observa- 
tion. He manifested a strong disposition, whenever the delays 
of travel occurred, to while away the time by visiting ceme- 
teries. He had long had a presentiment that his life was to 
be a short one. He was accompanied on this excursion by one 
of his associates, and while wending their way through the 
beautiful country at Newburyport he stopped suddenly under 
the shade of a thrifty oak, and exclaimed, "Here, Mr. Phelps, 
is where I desire to be buried." Six months from that time 
his remains were deposited in the precise spot, almost invol- 
untarily chosen for himself. 

At the moment of his departure from Boston to assume the 
arduous, not to say hazardous, tasis of organizing and con- 
ducting a teachers' seminary, in a new and untried field, 
Horace Mann gave him as a parting injunction, "Succeed or 
die." How nobly and truly he realized both alternatives the 
sequel proved. Death followed success as mid-noon follows 
in the wake of morning. The good man's mission was ful- 
filled. The earnest, honest, devoted, faithful teacher, the 



10 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

sincere Christian, passed to his reward. He rested from his 
labors, aud his works do follow him. 

Thn words of Horace Manu inspired the pen of the poetess 
Mrs. Sigourney : 

"Succeed or die." 

Teacher, was that thy creed ? 
The motto on thy banner, when thou earnest 
A soldita- to the field ? 

"Succeed or die." 
'Twas graven on thy shield. Unresting toil 
Won the drst trophy, as the grateful heart. 
Of many a youth to patient knowledge trained, 
Doth testify with tears ; while many a man 
Crowned by his i^lma Mater, from the post 
Of honor or of care, reraembereth well 
"Whose strong, persuasive nurture led him there. 

So thy first goal was gained. 

But for the next 
The Excelsior of thy creed ;— methinks the first 
Involved the second ; for to die like thee 
Was but the climax of a full success, 
Taking its last reward. 

Yea, such reward 
As waiteth those who the young soul shall turn 
To righteousness,— a name above the stars 
That in the cloudless firmament of God 
Forever shine. 

Mr. Page as an Educator. — It might seem that Mr. Page 
had succeeded in arousing the State of New York into educa- 
tional activity solely by eloquence and unresting activity, but 
he was the representative in the Empire State of the spirit of 
educational reform, of which Horace Mann was the wonderful 
exponent in New England. Recognizing and deploring the 
wretched condition of ihe great mass of the schools, particu- 
larly in the rui-al districts, he felt that the prevailing methods 
of in>triicti(m were little else than mere drivel, profitless alike 
to the children and the community ; he sought earnestly their 
elevMtion by all the means available for the purpose. He 
realized that the teachers were mostly ignorant, inefficient, 
and incompetent, and the schools were many of them desti- 
tute of even the semblance of organization and intelligent 
plans of management, while the schoolhouses were frequently 
badly located, ill-arranged, ill-furnished, and unfit for their 
intended uses. He believed that the reform of the schools 
must begin with the reform.-^tion of the teachers, and that the 
latter must be secured by quickening in them the sense of 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 1 7 

responsibility, through appeals to the higher motives ; by ele- 
vating the standard of scholarship, and by accurate professional 
training. Ttie subjects of his discourses upon which he spoke 
so eloquently were, often, the Spirit of the Teacher ; the 
Responsibility of the Teacher ; Need of Ample Qualifications ; 
Need of Right Views of Education ; Right Methods and Wrong 
Methods. 

"Thaory and Practice of Teaching. "—It was most fortu- 
nate that Mi\ Page was spared to write that remarkable vol- 
ume entitled '-Theory and Practice of Teaching," which has 
become widely known. That work was the result of original 
observation, of a careful study of the ablest teachers and 
writers of his time. 

The student who wants to thoroughly realize its value 
should remember that Mr. Page lived in a transition period 
from the era of blind lesson-hearing to one in which by rational 
and intelligent method edncation was aimed at. He was quite 
abreast of the age and in the front rank of his profession, 
according to the best standards of that period. Compared 
■with the present epoch of rigid analysis and scientific research 
into the laws of mind, when pedagogy has won a distinct 
place among the learned professions, it must be confessed that 
some of his views seem crude and unscientific. But it must 
not be forgotten that they answered the demands of the times, 
and became the stepping-stones, as it were, to the higher order 
of things to which we have now attained through the earnest 
and exhaustive studies of some of the profoundest scholars of 
the age. 

"Theory and Practice of Teaching," though written a half- 
century ago, has such an admirable spirit that it cannot but 
continue to be read by young teachers with profit. 

Ediicition as It Was.— A proper appreciation of the work 
of Mr. Page requires that a brief statement of the condition of 
education in New York and other States, prior to the year 1344, 
should be made. To begin with, the common schools were 
merely rudimentary in their character. Only the elements 
were attempted to be taught, and even this work was of an 
almost purely mechanical type. There was little or no appeal 
to the understanding and the intelligence, as a general rule. 
Blind groping best expresses the average tendency of the learn- 
ing and the teaching. The teachers themselves, as a class, 
were persons of limited attainments, with no rational ideas of 
method and no skill in adapting their instruction to the wants 
and capacities of their pupils. The schools had scarcely any- 



1 8 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

thing that approached a system of organization. Moral in- 
struction was unknown. The rod was the supreme appeal in 
cases of discipline. There was little public interest in the 
schools. Supervision by counties and to some extent by towns 
had been alternately adopted and discarded and finally re- 
adopted in the State of New York. The schoolhouses were 
small, badly built, ill - constructed, ill - furnished, and ill- 
adapted to their intended purposes. The schoolbooks then in 
use were of the crudest kind in composition, arrangement, and 
adaptation to the needs of the pupils. Blackboards, maps, 
charts, and apparatus for illustration were rarely found in the 
schools, or, if there, w^ere allowed to "rust unused ;" mechan- 
ical routine was the order of the day. The ability to preserve 
order was regarded as the leading qualification of the teacher. 
Cramming the memory with words, the meaning of which was 
a matter of chance, was the chief aim. Teacher and taught 
were often in antagonism. The power of love as a means of 
discipline w^as almost unknown. There was no recognition of 
educational principles. To teach was simply to impart. To 
memorize was the chief end of learning. 

A Reaction Began. — In Massachusetts the work of reform 
had fairly set in. The clarion voice of Horace Mann was 
heard throughout the old " Bay State," and his scathing expo- 
sure of the defects of the schools, the incompetency of the 
teachers, the deplorable condition of the schoolhouses, the 
lack of supervision and of all suitable appliances of instruc- 
tion, had begun to produce their legitimate effect in enlighten- 
ing public opinion and stimulating remedial measures. In 
this noble work Mr. Mann was ably seconded by the Alcotts, 
Samuel J. May, Woodbridge, Colburn, Russell, Page, Carter, 
Father Pierce, and others. Mr. Mann was elected secretary 
of the State Board of Education in 1837. He subsequently 
went to Europe, and in his tour of the Prussian schools caught 
the spirit and witnessed the rational methods inspired by the 
great Swiss educator Pestalozzi. Returning to this country he 
prepared what is known as his famous Seventh Annual Report, 
which excited universal attention and challenged the most 
vigorous criticisms. This report gave a vivid and stirring 
description of the Prussian schools, and presented the most 
striking contrasts to the bungling, mechanical, and ineJBQcient 
plans so generally in vogue at home. So marked were these 
contrasts, and so unfavorable to our current methods of teach- 
ing, that a pamphlet was issued by thirty-one Boston school- 
masters, antagonizing the views of the brilliant secretary, and 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 1 9 

attempting to show that the ideas of Pestalozzi, however suited 
to the schools of the Old World, were not adapted to the con- 
ditions in our own country. The contest was long continued 
and bitter, but, as the sequel has proved, it was the inaugura- 
tion of a revolution in American education, whicii never has 
gone and never can go backwards. Normal Schools were 
established as early as 1837-8 in Massachusetts, and thus was 
tlie proposition that the teacher should be specially trained for 
his work accorded full recognition, and the Normal School 
took its place as a distinctive and potent factor in the Ameri- 
can common-school system. 

Page and his Aims. —It was during this transition period 
between the old and the new, the repressive and the pro- 
gressive, the mechanical and the rational, the artificial and 
tiie natural, in educational methods, that Mr. Page was called 
to the direction of affairs in the State of New York. The 
Normal School had been established by an act of the Legisla- 
ture of 1844. The Empire State was next to Massachusetts in 
the recognition of this new agency for the improvement of its 
common schools through the special training and the elevation 
of its teachers. Mr. Page came to his responsible charge thor- 
oughly imbued with the spirit of the reform movement. He 
was familiar with the best that was then known in the theory 
and practice of the teacher's calling, and his aim was to inspire 
his pupils with a higher ideal of their work, and thoroughly 
to equip them, intellectually, morally, and professionally, for 
the duties and demands of that work. No one could long 
associate with him without feeling the inspiration of his lofty 
ideals. He laid great stress upon the "spirit of the teacher," 
and his own generous and self-sacrificing spirit was the key to 
all that he said and did. This feeling was contagious among 
his pupils. They respected him, revered him, honored him, 
and loved him. His methodical plans of organization and 
management, his class work, and, above all, his familiar talks 
upon professional topics, were models of excellence, and 
impressed themselves upon the heart and conscience of those 
who Vv'ere brought under his influence. Wherever he appeared 
at the institutes and conventions of teachers these sentiments 
were at once aroused and opposition thoroughly disarmed. 

Effect of these Influences. — The legitinmte effect of these 
lofty ideals, as taught and exemplified by this model teacher, 
was immediate. His pupils at once became his enthusiastic 
supporters, and wherever they went the name and fame of 
Page were upon every tongue. Wherever his graduates were 



20 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

employed in the schools, order sprang out of chaos, interest 
and enthusiasm supplanted indifference, intelligence and skill 
superseded ignorance and blind routine. The opening of the 
second term witnessed the presence of more than two hundred 
students, eager to sit under the inspiration and teachings of 
the man who in less than one year had profoundly impressed 
himself upon the public opinion of the largest and most popu- 
lous State in the Union. 

As a matter of course these ideas, plans, and methods, 
inspired and inculcated at the Normal School, were not only 
an innovation upon the past, but they w^ere revolutionary 
in their tendency, and well calculated to arouse a feeling of 
hostility among teachers of the old style. It is no wonder, 
therefore, that the opposition to the Normal School, became 
aggressive, and sought to express itself in organized action. 
Accordingly, at a meeting of the New York State Teachers' 
Association, held at Rochester in 1846, this opposition, com- 
prising some men of ability and prominence in the State, and 
representing especially the academic and collegiate interests, 
sought public expression. These men, with a considerable 
degree of assurance and audacity, were determined to put the 
declaration upon record that the teachers of the State needed 
no institutes or Normal Schools to teach them how to teach. 
A prominent member of the fraternity from the city of New 
York accordingly drew up and proposed the adoption of a 
resolution condemning the establishment of the State Normal 
School as needless for the teachers, and an unwarranted ex- 
pense to the State. It came to the knowledge of Mr. Page 
that such a resolution was to be introduced, and he placed 
himself on the platform awaiting its presentation. But the 
author of it and his abettors knew full well that there was no 
man to whom language, facts, and arguments were such will- 
ing and capable weapons in such a conflict as to David P. 
Page, when he stood on his feet. The time for introducing it 
was accordingly postponed to a more favorable season during 
the afternoon session. But on reassembling Mr. Page was 
found upon the platform, seeming to court nothing so much 
as an opportunity to speak to such a resolution. The prime 
movers, however, concluding that discretion was the better 
part of valor, and justly fearing that the agitation of the sub- 
ject would result in strengthening the cause they sought to 
injure, the movement collapsed, and was never afterward 
heard from. 

The Growth of these Ideas.— The marked success of the 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 21 

Normal School at Albany under the guiding hand of Mr. Page 
soon stimulated similar movements in other States. Michigan, 
Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wis- 
consin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri followed the 
lead of Massachusetts and New York in rapid succession. 
The development of the system in New York has been upon a 
colossal scale, worthy of her name and fame as the " Empire 
State." Eight of these great training-schools are now in 
active operation under tlie auspices of the State, the cost of 
maintenance amounting to over one hundred thousand dol- 
lars annually. It is only the truth of history to affirm that 
the establishment of the school at Albany and its great suc- 
cess under the fostering care of Page and his able coadjutors. 
Bishop Potter, Colonel Samuel Young, Francis Dwight, and 
others, paved the way for the wonderful revolution in educa- 
tional thought, and made these great results possible. The high 
standard attained in every department of learning and the 
appliances brought into the service are the result of evolution 
from the modest, early beginning and of the brilliant, judi- 
cious, and self-sacrificing labors of the devoted men who were 
the pioneers of those earlier days. Many of the graduates of 
that and subsequent periods have occupied and are still honor- 
ing some of the most important and responsible positions in 
other and distant States, and have helped to shape the school 
systems whicii will mould the character and destinies of gen- 
erations yet unborn. 

Summary of the Foregoing Presentation. — An epitome of 
the life, educational views, and labors of Mr. Page, with the 
lessons deducible therefrom, may be given as follows : 

1. Born and reared in humble life, he manifested at an early 
age an irrepressible desire for knowledge and the usefulness 
which its possession implies. The gratification of his wishes, 
at first denied by his parents, was at last conceded under the 
pressure of a renewed petition while prostrated with a danger- 
ous illness, conditioned upon his recovery. 

2. A favorable issue of his malady resulted in his entrance 
at a neighboring academy, where the foundation was laid for 
his education and his successful career as a teacher, although 
the time spent there was very limited, subsequent to which he 
commenced teaching a district school. His term completed, 
he returns to the academy, and during the ensuing winter 
again teaches in his native town, his further studies being 
pursued without assistance. He became literaJly a self-made 
man. 



22 DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 

3. Again he teaches a district school, and definitely resolves 
to nmke this calling his profession. At its close, at the age of 
nineteen years, he boldly opens a private school, studying by 
himself, thoroughly mastering the lessons he was to teach, 
and adapting his teachings to the several capacities of his 
pupils, encouraging the diffident and sluggish, restraining the 
forward, and kindling in their youthful hearts aspirations for 
the good and pure, and ever striving to enlarge his own sphere 
of thought, intelligence, and usefulness. 

4. He becomes associate principal of the Newburyport High 
School with one of the most eminent teachers of Massachusetts, 
wliere he rendered the most acceptable service for twelve 
years. Here he began his career as a public lecturer, appearing 
on several occasions before the Essex County Teachers' Associ- 
ation. These lectures were characterized by Horace Mann as 
the best ever delivered before that or any other body. Of one 
of these, on " The Mutual Duties of Parents and Teachers," 
six thousand copies were printed and distributed, three thou- 
sand of them at Mr. Mann's expense, throughout the State. 
His powers as an orator were of a high order. He could 
" think standing on his feet and before folks" — a rare gift. 

5. As a result of his industry and professional skill and 
devotion, his reputation outran his immediate locality and 
State, and in the latter part of the year 1844 he was, on the 
recommendation of Horace Mann, selected as the first princi- 
pal of the first Normal School in the State of New York, at 
Albany, entering upon his duties on the 15th of December of 
that year. Here, with the sphere of his usefulness vastly ex- 
panded, he proved himself equal to all emergencies, and re- 
solved order out of chaos, inspired hope and confidence where 
doubt and fear prevailed, and silenced all opposition among 
the enemies of the normal system for the preparation of 
teachers. This was laying tiie foundation for the " new edu- 
cation," the beginning of a new era from which the marvellous 
progress of the later years has been rendered possible. The 
advent of rational, intelligent, philosophic methods of organiz- 
ing, conducting, and teaching schools was a radical innovation 
upon the old system of blind groping and mechanical memo- 
rizing, so generally prevalent. It was the beginning of a 
revolution which has eventuated in establishing education 
upon a solid basis of enduring, because scientific, principals. 
It has rendered possible the universal acceptance in theory 
and practice of the views of Froebel and Pestalozzi, which are 



DAVID PERKINS PAGE. 2} 

doing so much to elevate and ennoble the cause of general 
ed ucation. 

6, The cardinal doctrines of Mr. Page's creed were em- 
braced in the conviction, first, that the spirit of the teacher 
must be elevated and inspired above all sordid and mercenary 
aims to a profound reverence for the human soul, and an un- 
dying love for his noble calling ; second, that only in the most 
thoj^ough, careful, and comprehensive special preparation for 
his profession can he find any warrant or hope of real success ; 
third, that to this end teachers' seminaries, properly organized, 
equipped, and conducted, must afford the best guaranty of 
the ultimate success of our common schools, and of a suitable 
preparation of the people of a free republic for the great 
duties of citizenship. 

7. The impressive lessons of such a life seem too evident to 
require distinct specification. They are so clear that they may 
be known and read of all men : A noble resolve, followed by 
heroic and persistent endeavor; loftiness of aim ; self-reli- 
ance ; a high ideal of professional responsibility ; a deep 
reverence for the human soul, and an unwavering confidence 
in its possibilities for intellectual and moral elevation ; clear 
and positive views of the means and ends of education ; a 
conviction of the absolute necessity of self-culture ; he who 
would teach elficiently must himself be a profound and earnest 
student ; he must be a close observer of the phenomena of 
child-life, and adapt himself to its varying needs; he must 
master the principles that underlie his work, and seek to 
exemplify them in every act of his professional life. To 
"succeed or die " is the highest of human resolves. To do 
both is to earn a martyr's crown. 



THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING, 



CHAPTEK L 

SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 

The True Spirit— Perhaps the very first question 
that the honest individual will ask himself, as he pro- 
poses to assume the teacher's office, or to enter upon a 
preparation for it, will be " What manner of spirit am 
loff No question can be more important. I would 
by no means undervalue that degree of natural talent — 
of mental power, which all justly consider so desirable 
in the candidate for the teacher's office. But the true 
spirit of the teacher — a spirit that seeks not alone 
pecuniary emolument, but desires to be in the highest 
degree useful to those who are to be taught; a spirit 
that elevates above everything else the nature and ca- 
pabilities of the human soul, and that trembles under 
the responsibility of attempting to be its educator; a 
spirit that looks upon gold as the contemptible dross 
of earth, when compared with that imperishable gem 
which is to be polished and brought out into heaven's 
light to shine forever; a spirit that scorns all the re- 

25 



2(> THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

wards of earth, and seeks that highest of all rewards, an 
approving consuience and an approving God; a spirit 
that earnestly inquires what is right, and that dreads to 
do what is wrong; a spirit that can recognize and 
reverence the handiwork of God in every child, and 
that burns with the desire to be instrumental in train- 
ing it to the highest attainment of which it is capable, 
—such a spirit is the first thing to be sought by the 
teacher, and without it the highest talent cannot make 
him truly excellent in his profession. 

Preparation Needed. — The candidate for the office 
of the teacher should look well to his motives. It is 
easy to enter upon the duties of the teacher without 
preparation; it is easy to do it without that lofty pur- 
pose which an enlightened conscience would ever 
demand; but it is not so easy to undo the mischief 
which a single mistake may produce in the mind of the 
child at that tender period when mistakes are most 
likely to be made. 

Motives Often Wrong. — Too many teachers are 
found in our schools without the spirit for their work 
which is here insisted on. They not only have not 
given attention to any preparation for their work, but 
resort to it from motives of personal convenience, and 
in many instances from a consciousness of being unfit 
for every thing else. In other professions this is not so. 
The lawyer is not admitted to the bar till he has pur- 
sued a course of thorough preparation, and even then 
but warily employed. The physician goes through his 
course of reading and his course of lectures, and often 
almost through a course of starvation in the country 
village where he first puts up his sign, before he is 
called in to heal the maladies of the body. It is long 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 27 

before he can inspire confidence enough in the people 
to be intrusted with their most difficult cases of ailing, 
and very likely the noon of life is passed before he can 
consider himself established. But it is not so with the 
teacher. He gains access to the sanctuary of mind 
without any difficulty, and the most tender interests for 
both worlds are intrusted to his guidance, even when he 
makes pretension to no higher motive than that of fill- 
ing up a few months of time not otherv/ise appropriated, 
and to no qualifications but those attained by accident. 
A late writer in the "Journal of Education" hardly 
overstates this matter : " Every stripling who has passed 
four years within the walls of a college; every dissatis- 
fied clerk who has not ability enough to manage the 
trifling concerns of a common retail-shop ; every young 
farmer who obtains in the winter a short vacation from 
the toils of summer — in short, every young person who 
is conscious of his imbecility in other business, esteems 
himself fully competent to train the ignorance and 
weakness of infancy into all the virtue and power and 
wisdom of maturer years — to form a creature, the 
frailest and feeblest that Heaven has made, into the in- 
telligent and fearless sovereign of the whole animated 
creation, the interpreter and adorer and almost the 
representative of Divinity ! " 

Teaching a Secondary Object with Many.— Many 
there are who enter upon the high employment of 
teaching a common school as a secondary object. Per- 
haps they are students themselves in some higher insti- 
tution, and resort to this as a temporary expedient for 
paying their board, while their chief object is to pursue 
their own studies, and thus keep pace with their classes. 
Some make it a stepping-stone to something beyond. 



28 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and, in their estimation, higher in the scale of respect- 
ability — treating the employment, while in it, as irksome 
in the extreme, and never manifesting so much delight 
as when the hour arrives for the dismissal of their 
schools. Such have not the true spirit of the teacher; 
and if their labors are not entirely unprofitable, it only 
proves that children are sometimes submitted to im- 
minent danger, but are still unaccountably preserved by 
the hand of Providence. 

Ignorance Does not Excuse Mistakes. — The teacher 
should go to his duty full of his work. He should be 
impressed with its overwhelming importance. He 
should feel that his mistakes, though they may not 
speedily ruin him, may permanently injure his pupils. 
Nor is it enough that he shall say, " I did it ignorantly." 
He has assumed to fill a place where ignorance itself is 
sin; and where indifference to the well-being of others 
is equivalent to wilful homicide. He might as inno- 
cently assume to be the physician, and, without know- 
ing its effects, prescribe arsenic for the colic. Ignorance 
is not in such cases a valid excuse, because the assump- 
tion of the place implies a pretension to the requisite 
skill. Let the teacher, then, well consider what manner 
of spirit he is of. Let him. come to this work only when 
he has carefully pondered its nature and its responsi- 
bilities, and after he has devoted his best powers to a 
thorough preparation of himself for its high duties. 
Above all, let him be sure that his motives on entering 
the schoolroom are such as will be acceptable in the 
sight of God, when viewed by the light beaming out 
from His throne. 

"Oh! let not then unsldlful hnnds attempt 
To play the harp whose tones, whose liviDg tones, 



SPIRIT OF THE TEACHER. 29 

Are left forever in the strings. Better far 
Tbat beaveu's lightnings bhist bis very soul, 
And sink it buck to Chaos' lowest depths. 
Thau knowingly, by word or i]ee(\t he send 
A blight upon the trusting mind of j'oulh." 



QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the first question an aspirant for the oifiee of the 
teacher should ask himself? Give reasons for your answer. 

2. Are teachers born or made? (Before answering ask 
yourself whether physicians, lawyers, ministers, or artists are 
born. ) 

3. How do lawyers, physicians, divines, and artists prepare 
themselves for their profession ? Draw conclusions as to the 
preparation of teachers. 

4. Why is it that many look upon teaching as a mere 
stepping-stone to something which they consider far more 
honorable ? 

5. Why is Ignorance no excuse for mistakes in teaching? 

6. How does a good teacher regard his business? 

7. Why is it necessary that the teacher should have a high 
conception of his duties? 

8. Why should indifferent teachers be kept out of the 
school -room ? 

9. What does the good teacher consider his highest reward ? 

10. What is your idea of the highest function of the school ? 



30 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

CHAPTER II. 

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 

SECTIOIT I. — A l^EGLECTED PEAR-TREE. 

A Garden.— Some years ago, while residing in the 
northeastern part of Massachusetts, I was the owner of 
a small garden. I had taken much pains to improve 
the condition and appearance of the place. A woodbine 
had been carefully trained npon the front of the little 
homestead; a fragrant honeysuckle, supported by a 
trellis, adorned the doorway; a moss-rose, a flowering 
almond, and the lilly of the valley, mingled their fra- 
grance in the breath of morn — and never, in my estima- 
tion at least, did the sun shine upon a lovelier, happier 
spot. The morning hour was spent in "dressing and 
keeping" the garden. Its vines were daily watched 
and carefully trained ; its borders were free from weeds, 
and the plants expanded their leaves and opened their 
buds as if smiling at the approach of the morning sun. 
There were fruit-trees, too, which had been brought 
from far, and so carefully nurtured that they were 
covered with blossoms, filling the air with their fra- 
grance and awakening the fondest hopes of an abun- 
dant harvest. 

Neglected Pear-tree.— In one corner of this miniature 
paradise there was a hop-trellis, and in the midst of a 
bed of tansy hard by stood a small, knotty, crooked 
pear-tree. It had stood there I know not how long. It 
was very diminutive in size; but, like those cedars 
which one notices high up the mountain, just on the 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. J I 

boundary between vegetation and eternal frost, it had 
every mark of the decrepitude of age. 

Why should this tree stand here so unsightly and un- 
fruitful? Why had it escaped notice so long? Its 
bark had become hound and cracked; it leaves were 
smalled and curled; and those, small as they were, were 
ready to be devoured by a host of caterpillars, whose 
pampered bodies were already grown to the length of an 
inch. The tendrils of the hop-vine had crept about its 
thorny limbs and were weighing down its growth, while 
the tansy at its roots drank up the refreshing dew and 
shut out the genial ray. It was a neglected tree! 

The Task of Pruning Commenced. — " Why may not 
this tree be pruned ?" No sooner said than the small 
saw was taken from its place and the work was com- 
menced. Commenced 9 It was hard to determine where 
to commence. Its knotty branches had grown thick 
and crooked, and there was scarcely space to get the saw 
between them. They all seemed to deserve amputation, 
but then the tree would have no top. This and that 
limb were lopped off ^s the case seemed to demand. 
The task was neither easy nor pleasant. Sometimes a 
violent stroke would bring down upon my own head a 
shower of the filthy caterpillars; again, the long-cher- " 
ished garden-coat — threadbare and faded as it was — got 
caught, and before it could be disengaged, what an un- 
sightly rent had been made ! With pain I toiled on, 
for one of the unlucky thorns had pierced my thumb; 
and I might have been said to be working on the spur 
of the occasion ! 

Promises. — The hop-vine, however, was removed from 
its boughs, the tansy and -v^eeds from its roots, the scales 
and moss from its bark. The thorns were carefully 



^2 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

pared from its limbs, and tlie caterpillars were all shaken 
from its leaves. The mould was loosened and enriched, 
— and the snn shined that day upon a long neglected 
but now a promising tree. 

Grafting of a Bartlet Pear.— The time for grafting 
was not yet passed. One reputedly skilled in that art 
was called to put the new scion upon the old stock. 
The work was readily undertaken and speedily accom- 
plished, and the assurance was given that the Bartlet 
Pear -that prince among the fruits of New England — 
would one day be gathered from my neglected tree. 

First Fruit Blossoms.— AVith what interest I watched 
the buds of the scion, morning after morning, as the 
month grew warmer, and vegetation all aronnd was 
" bursting into birth \" AYith what delight did I greet 
the first opening of those buds, and how did I rejoice as 
the young shoots put forth and grew into a fresh, green 
top ! "With tender solicitude I cherished this tree for 
two long summers; and, on the opening of the third, my 
heart was gladened with the sight of its first fruit blos- 
soms. "With care were the weeds excluded, the cater- 
pillars exterminated, the hop -vine clipped, the bark 
rubbed and washed, the earth manured and watered. 

Chagrin and Mortification.— The time of fruit ar- 
rived. The Bartlet pear was offered in our market — 
but my pears were not yet ripe ! With anxious care 
they were watched till the frost bade the green leaves 
wither, and then they were carefully gathered and 
placed in the sunbeams within doors. They at length 
turned yellow, and looked fair to the sight and tempting 
to the taste; and a few friends, who had known their 
history, were invited to partake of them. They were 
brought forward, carefully arranged in the best dish the 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. }} 

humble domicile afforded, and formally introduced as the 
first fruits of the ^^ neglected tree!' What was my cha- 
grin and mortification, after all my pains and solicitude, 
after all my hopes and fond anticipations, to find they 
were miserable, tasteless — cliohe-pears ! 

Neglected Trees in the Moral Garden.— This pear- 
tree has put me upon thinking. It has suggested that 
there is such a thing as a moral garden, in which there 
may be fair flowers indeed, but also some neglected trees. 
The plants in this garden may suffer very much from 
neglect — from neglect of the gardener. It is deplorable 
to see how many crooked, unseemly branches shoot forth 
from some of these young trees, which early might have 
been trained to grow straight and smooth by the hand 
of cultivation. Many a youth, running on in his own 
way, indulging in deception and profanity, yielding to 
temptation and overborne by evil influences, polluting 
by his example and wounding the hearts of his best 
friends as they yearn over him for good, has reminded 
me of my neglected tree, its caterpillars, its roughened 
bark, its hop-vine, its tansy-bed, its cruel piercing thorns. 
And when I have seen such a youth brought under the 
influence Of the educator, and have witnessed the prog- 
ress he has made and the intellectual promise he has 
given, I have also thought of my neglected iree. When, 
too, I have followed him to the years of maturity, and 
have found, as I have too often found, that he brings 
not forth "the peaceable fruits of righteousness,'' but 
that he disappoints all the fondly-cherished hopes of his 
friends — perhaps of his own teachers, because the best 
principles were not engrafted upon him, I again think 
of my neglected tree, and of the unskilful, perhaps dis- 
honest gardener, who acted as its responsihle educator. 



34 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Inferences. — From the above as a text, several infer- 
ences might be drawn. 1. Education is necessary to 
develop the human soul. 2. Education should begin 
early. We have too many neglected trees. 3. It should 
be right education. And 4. The educator should be a 
safe and an honest man; else the education may be all 
wrong— may be worse even than the neglect. 

But especially we may infer that — 

SECTION II. — ^THE TEACHER IS RESPONSIBLE. 

The Teacher not alone Responsible — It is the object 
of the following remarks feebly to illustrate the extent 
of the teacher's responsibility. It must all along be 
borne in mind that he is not alorie responsible for the 
results of education. The parent has an overwhelming 
responsibility, which he can never part with or transfer 
to another while he holds the relation of parent. 

Extent of Teacher*s Responsibility. — But the teacher 
is responsible in a very high degree. An important in- 
terest is committed to his charge whenever a human 
being is placed under his guidance. By taking the posi- 
tion of the teacher, all the responsibility of the relation 
is voluntarily assumed; and he is fearfully responsible 
not only for what he does^ but also for what he neglects 
to dp. And it is a responsibility from which he cannot 
escape. Even though he may have thoughtlessly en- 
tered upon the relation of teacher, without a single 
glance at its obligations; or though, when reminded of 
fchem, he may laugh at the thought, and disclaim all 
idea of being thus seriously held to a fearful account, — 
yet still the responsibility is on him. Just as true as it 
is a great thing to guide the mind aright, — just as true 



RESI^ONSiBILITY Of THE TEAChLR. 35 

as it is a deplorable, nay, fatal thing to lead it astray, so 
true is it that he who attempts the work, whether igno- 
rant or skilful, whether thoughtless or serious, incurs 
all the responsibility of success or failure, — a responsi- 
bility he can never shake off as long as the human soul 
is immortal, and men are accountable for such conse- 
quences of their acts as are capable of being foreseen. 

I. Bodily Health. 

Tlie teacher is in a degree responsible for the bodily 
HEALTH of the child. 

Laws of Physical Health.— It is well established that 
the foundation of many serious diseases is laid in the 
school-room. These diseases come sometimes from a 
neglect of exercise; sometimes from too long confine- 
ment in one position, or upon one study; sometimes 
from over-excitement and over-study; sometimes from 
breathing bad air; sometimes from being kept too warm 
or too cold. Now, the teacher should be an intelligent 
physiologist; and from a knowledge of what the human 
system can bear and what it cannot, he is bound to be 
ever watchful to guard against all those abuses from 
which our children so often suffer. Especially should 
he be tremblingly alive to avert that excitability of the 
nervous system, the over-action of which is so fatal to 
the future happiness of the individual. And should he, 
by appealing to the most exciting motives, encourage 
the delicate child to press on to grasp those subjects 
which are too great for its comprehension, and allow 
it to neglect exercise in the open air in order to task 
its feverish brain in the crowded and badly-ventilated 
school-room; and then, in a few days, be called to look 
upon the languishing sufferer upon a bed of exhaustion 



56 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and pain — perhaps a bed of premature death, could he 
say, "I am not responsible"? Parents and teachers 
often err in this. They are so eager to develop a preco- 
cious intellect that they crush the casket in order to 
gratify a prurient desire to astonish the world with the 
brilliancy of the gem. Each is responsible for his share 
of this sin; and the teacher especially, because, by his 
education, he should know better. 

II. Intellectual Growth. 

The teacher is mainly responsible for the intellect- 
ual GROWTH of the child. This may be referred chiefly 
to the following heads: 

1. The Order of Study. — There is a natural order in 
the education of the child. The teacher should know 
this. If he presents the subjects out of this order, he 
is responsible for the injury. In general, the elements 
should be taught first. Those simple branches which 
the child first comprehends should first be presented. 

Heading, of course, must be one of the first; though 
I think the day is not distant when an enlightened com- 
munity will not condemn the teacher, if, while teaching 
reading, he should call the child^'s attention by oral in- 
structions to such objects about him as he can compre- 
hend, even though in doing this he should somewhat 
prolong the time of learning to read. It is indeed of 
little consequence that the child should read words 
simply; and that teacher may be viewed as pursuing 
the order of nature who so endeavors to develop the 
powers of observation and comparison that words when 
learned shall be the vehicles of ideas. Some further 
suggestions on this point will be made in the chapter 
entitled " Waking up Mind.'' 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 37 

Next to reading and its inseparable companions, 
Spelling and Defining, I am inclined to recommend the 
study of Mental Arithmetic. The idea of Number is 
one of the earliest in the mind of the child. He 
can be early taught to count, and quite early to perform 
those operations which we call adding, subtracting, 
multiplying, and dividing. This study at first needs 710 
look. The teacher should be thoroughly versed in 
" Colburn's Intellectual Arithmetic,'^ or its equivalent, 
and he can find enough to interest the child. When 
the scholar has learned to read, and has attained the age 
of six or seven, he may be allowed a book in preparing 
his lesson, but never during the recitation. Those who 
have not tried this kind of mental discipline will be 
astonished at the facility which the child acquires for 
performing operations that often puzzle the adult. Nor 
is it an unimportant acquisition. None can tell its value 
but those who have experienced the advantage it gives- 
them, in future school exercises and in business, over 
those who have never had such training. 

Geography may come next to Mental Arithmetic. 
The child should have an idea of the relations of size, 
form, and space, as well as number, before commencing 
Geography. These, however, he acquires naturally at 
an early age; and very thoroughly, if the teacher has 
taken a little pains to aid him on these points in the 
earliest stages of his progress. A map is a picture, and 
hence a child welcomes it. If it can be a map of some 
familiar object, as of his school-room, of the school dis- 
trict, of his father's orchard or farm, it becomes an ob- 
ject of great interest. A map of his town is very desir- 
able, also of his county and his own state. Further de- 
tail will be deferred here, as it is only intended in this 



38 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

place to hint at the order of taking np the sub- 
jects. 

History should go hand in hand with Geography. 
Perhaps no greater mistake is made than that of defer- 
ring History till one of the last things in the child's 
course. 

Writing may be early commenced with the pencil 
upon the slate, because it is a very useful exercise to 
the child in prosecuting many of his other studies. But 
writing with a pen may well be deferred till the child is 
ten years of age, when the muscles shall have acquired 
sufficient strength to grasp and guide it. 

Written Arithmetic may succeed the mental ; indeed, 
it may be practised along with it. 

Composition — perhaps by another name, as Descrip, 
tion — should be early commenced and very frequently 
practised. The child can be early interested in this, 
and he probably in this way acquires a better knowledge 
of practical grammar than in any other. 

Grammar, in my opinion, as a study, should be one 
of the last of the common-school branches to be taken 
up. It requires more maturity of mind to understand 
its relations and dependencies than any other; and that 
which is taught of grammar without such an under- 
standing is a mere smattering of technical terms, by 
which the pupil is injured rather than improved. It 
may be said that, unless scholars commence this branch 
early, they never will have the opportunity to learn it. 
Then let it go unlearned ; for as far as I have seen the 
world, I am satisfied that this early and superficial 
teaching of a difficult subject is not only useless, but 
positively injurious. How many there are who study 
grammar for years, and then are obliged to confess in 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 39 

after-life, because "their speech bewrayeth^^ them, that 
they never understood it ! How many, by the too early 
study of an intricate branch, make themselves think 
they understand it, and thus prevent the hope of any 
further advancement at the proper age I Grammar, 
then, should not ie studied too early. 

Of the manner of teaching all these branches, I shall 
have more to say in due time. At present I have only 
noticed the order in which they should be taken up. 
This is a question of much consequence to the child, 
and the teacher is generally responsible for it. He 
should therefore carefully consider this matter, that he 
may be able to decide aright. 

2. The Manner of Study. — It is of quite as much 
importance hoio we study as what we study. Indeed, I 
have thought that much of the difference among men 
could be traced to their different habits of study, formed 
in youth. A large portion of our scholars study for the 
sake of preparing to recite the lesson. They seem to 
have no idea of any object beyond recitation. The con- 
sequence is they study mechanically. They endeavor 
to remember phraseology rather than principles ; they 
study the book, not the subject. Let any one enter our 
schools and see the scholars engaged in preparing their 
lessons. Scarcely one will be seen who is not repeating 
over and over again the words of the text, as if there 
was a saving charm in repetition. Observe the same 
scholars at recitation, and it is a struggle of the memory 
to recall the forms of words. The vacant countenance 
too often indicates that they are words without mean- 
ing. This difficulty is very much increased, if the 
teacher is confined to the text-book during recitation ; 



40 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and particularly, if he relies mainly upon the printed 
questio7is so often found at the bottom of the page. 

The scholar should be encouraged to study the sub- 
ject; and his book should be held merely as the instru- 
ment." " Books are but helps," is a good motto for 
every student. The teacher should often tell how the 
lesson should be learned. His precept in this matter 
will often be of use. Some scholars will learn a lesson 
in one tenth of the time required by others. Human 
life is too short to have any of it employed to disadvan- 
tage. The teacher, then, should inculcate such habits 
of study as are valuable ;• and he should be particularly 
careful to break up, in the recitations, those habits 
which are so grossly mechanical. A child may almost 
be said to be educated, who has learned to study aright; 
while one may have acquired in the mechanical way a 
great amount of knowledge, and yet have no profitable 
mental discipline. 

For this difference in children, as well as in men, the 
teacher is more responsible than any other person. Let 
him carefully consider this matter. 

3. Collateral Study.— Books, to be sure, are to be 
studied, and studied chiefly, in most of our schools. But 
there is much for the teacher to do toward the growth 
of the mind, which is not to be found in the school- 
books; and it is the practical recognition of this fact 
which constitutes the great difference in teachers. 
Truth, in whatever department, is open to the faithful 
teacher. And there is such a thing, even in the present 
generation, as " opening the eyes of the blind," to dis- 
cover things new and old, in nature, in the arts, in 
history, in the relation of things. Without diminishing, 
in the least, the progress of the young in study, their 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 4 1 

powers of observation may be cultivated, their percep- 
tion quickened, their relish for the acquisition of knowl- 
edge indefinitely increased, by the instrumentality of 
the teacher. This must of course be done adroitly. 
There is such a thing as excessively cramming the mind 
of a child, till he loathes everything in the way of 
acquisition. There is such a thing, too, as exciting an 
all-pervading interest in a group of children, so that 
the scholar shall welcome the return of school-hours, 
and, by his cheerful step and animated eye, as he seeks 
the school-house, disclaim, as false when applied to him, 
the language of the poet, who described the schoolboy 
of his darker day, — 

"with his satchel, 
And shiniug morning face, creeping, like snail, 
Unwillingly to school." 

The teacher who is responsible for such a result 
should take care to store his own mind with the material, 
and exercise the ingenuity, to do that which is of so 
much consequence to the scholar. The chapter on 
" "Waking up Mind '* will give some further hints to the 
young teacher. 

III. Moral Training, 

The teacher is in a degree responsiUe for the moeal 
TEAIKING of the child, 

I say in a degree, because it is confessed that in this 
matter very much likewise depends upon parental in- 
fluence. 

Moral Training Neglected — This .education of the 
heart is confessedly too much neglected in all our 
schools. It has often been remarked that " knowledge 



42 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

is power/' and as truly that "knowledge without prin- 
ciple to regulate it may make a man a powerful villain/' 
It is all-important that our youth should early receivp 
such moral training as shall make it safe to give thei;; 
knowledge. Very much of this work must devolve 
upon the teacher; or rather, when he undertakes to 
teach, he assumes the responsibility of doing or of neg- 
lecting this work. 

Precept. — The precept of the teacher may do much 
toward teaching the child his duty to God, to himself, 
and to his fellow-beings. But it is not mainly by pre- 
cept that this is to be done. Sermons and homilies are 
but little heeded in the school-room; and unless the 
teacher has some other mode of reaching the feelings 
and the conscience, he may despair of being successful 
in moral training. 

Example. — The teacher should be well versed in 
human nature. He should know the power of con- 
science and the means of reaching it. He should him- 
self have deep principle. His example in everything 
before his school should be pure, flowing out from the 
purity of his soul. He should ever manifest the ten- 
derest regard to the law of right and of love. He should 
never violate his own sense of justice, nor outrage thai 
of his pupils. Such a man teaches by his example. 
He is a " living epistle, known and read of all." He 
teaches, as he goes in and out before the school, as 
words can never teach. 

How Conscience Can be Cultivated. — The moral 
feelings of children are capable of systematic and suc- 
cessful cultivation. Our muscles acquire strength by 
use; it is so with our intellectnaland moral faculties. 
We educate the power of calculation by continued 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 43 

practice, so that the proficient adds the long column of 
figures almost with the rapidity of sight, and with in- 
fallible accuracy. So with the moral feelings. "The 
more frequently we use our conscience," says Dr. Way- 
land, " in judging between actions, as right and wrong, 
the more easily shall we learn to judge correctly con- 
cerning them. He who, before every action, will de- 
liberately ask himself, 'Is this right or wrong?' will 
seldom mistake what is his duty. And children may 
do this as well as grown persons." Let the teacher ap- 
peal as often as may be to the pupil's conscience. In a 
thousand ways can this be done, and it is a duty the 
faithful teacher owes to his scholars. 

Influence of Example. — By such methods of culti- 
vating the conscience as the judicious teacher may 
devise, and by his own pure example, what may he not 
accomplish ? If he loves the truth, and ever speaks the 
truth; if he is ever frank and sincere; if, in a word, he 
shows that he has a tender conscience in all things, 
and that he always refers to it for its approval in all 
his acts — what an influence does he exert upon the 
impressible minds under his guidance! How those 
children will observe his consistent course; and, though 
they may not speak of it, how great will be its sileui 
power upon the formation of their characters ! And in 
future years, when they ripen into m&tnYitj, how will 
they remember and bless the example they shall have 
found so safe and salutary ! 

Consequences of Evil Examples to be Dreaded. — 
Responsibility in this matter cannot be avoided. The 
teacher by his example does tench, for good or for evil, 
whether he v/ill or not. Indilference will not excuse 
him; for when most indifferent he is not less account- 



44 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

able. And if his example be pernicious, as too often 
even yet the example of the teacher is; if he indulges 
in outbreaks of passion, or wanders in the mazes of 
deceitfulness; if the blasphemous oath pollutes his 
tongue, or the obscene jest poisons his breath; if he 
trifles with the feelings or the rights of others, and 
habitually violates his own conscience, — what a blight- 
ing influence is his for all coming time ! 

The School no Place for a Man without Principle. 
— With all the attachment which young pupils will 
cherish even toward a bad teacher, and with all the 
confidence they will repose in him, who can describe 
the mischief which he can accomplish in one short 
term ? The school is no place for a man tuithout prin- 
ciple ; I repeat, the school is no place for a mak 
vviTHOUT PRINCIPLE ! Let such a man seek a liveli- 
hood anywhere else; or, failing to gain it by other 
means, let starvation seize the body, and send the soul 
back to its Maker as it is, rather than he should incur 
the fearful guilt of poisoning youthful minds and 
dragging them down to his own pitiable level. If there 
can be one sin greater than another, on which Heaven 
frowns with more awful displeasure it is that of leading 
the young into principles of error and the debasing 
practices of vice. 

" Oh, woe to those who trample on the mind, 
That deathless thing ! They know not what they do, 
Nor what they deal with. Man, perchance, may bind 
The flower his step liath bruised; or light anew 
The torch he quenches; or to music wiud 
Again the lyre-string from his touch that flew; — 
But for the soul, oh, tremble and beware 
To lay rude hands upon God's mysteries there !" 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 45 

Let then the teacher study well his motives when he 
enters this profession, and so let him meet his responsi- 
bility in this matter as to secure the approval of his 
own conscience and his God. 

IV. Religious Training. 

The teacher is to some extent responsible for the 
RELIGIOUS TRAiiTiNG of the young. 

Religion Our Glory, Our Hope — We live in a Chris- 
tian land. It is our glory, if not our boast, that we 
have descended from an ancestry that feared God and 
reverenced his word. Very justly we attribute our 
superiority as a people over those who dwell in the 
darker portions of the world, to our purer faith derived 
from that precious fountain of truth — the Bible. Very 
justly, too, does the true patriot and philanthropist rely 
upon our faith and practice as a Christian people for 
the permanence of our free institutions and our un- 
equalled social privileges. 

Inference.— If we are so much indebted, then, to the 
Christian religion for what we are, and so much de- 
pendent upon its life-giving truths for what we may 
hope to be, how important is it that all our youth 
should be nurtured under its influences! 

Av.oid Sectarianism. — When I say religious training, 
I do not mean sectarianism. In our public schools, 
supported at the public expense, and in which the chil- 
dren of all denominations meet for instruction, I do not 
think that any man has a right to crowd his own pe- 
culiar notions of theology upon all, whether they are 
acceptable or not. 

Common Ground. — Yet there is common ground 
which the teacher can occupy, and to which no reason- 



46 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

able man can object. He can teach a reverence for the 
Supreme Being, a reverence for His Holy Word, for the 
influences of His Spirit, for the character and teachings 
of the Saviour, and for the momentous concerns of eter- 
nity. He can teach the evil of sin in the sight of God, 
and the awful consequences of it upon the individual. 
He can teach the duty of repentance, and the privilege 
of forgiveness. He can teach our duty to worship God, 
to obey His laws, to seek the guidance of His Spirit, 
and the salvation by His Son. He can illustrate the 
blessedness of the divine life, the beauty of holiness, and 
the joyful hope of heaven; and to all this no reasonable 
man will be found to object, so long as it is done in a 
truly Christian spirit. 

Example of the Teacher. — If not in express words, 
most certainly his life and example should teach this. 
Man is a religious being. The religious principle 
should be early cultivated. It should be snfely and 
carefully cultivated ; and, as this cultivation is too often 
entirely neglected by parents, unless it is attempted 
by the teacher, in many cases it will never be effected 
at all. 

Of course all those points which separate the commu- 
nity into sects must be left to the family, the sabbath- 
school, and the pulpit. The teacher is responsible for 
his honesty in this matter. "While he has no right to 
lord it over the private conscience of any one, he is in- 
excusable, if, believing the great truths of the Bible, he 
puts them away as if they concerned him not. They 
should command his faith, and govern his conduct; and 
their claims upon the young should not be disowned. 

Danger of Scepticism. — At any rate, the teacher 
should be careful that his teaching and his example do 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 47 

not prejudice the youthful mind against these truths. 
It is a hazardous thing for a man to be sceptical by 
himself, even when he locks his opinions up in the 
secrecy of his own bosom. How great, then, is the respon- 
sibility of teaching the young to look lightly upon the 
only Book that holds out to us the faith of immortality, 
and opens to us the hope of heaven ! Let the teacher 
well consider this matter, and take heed that his teach- 
ing shall never lead one child of earth away from his 
heavenly Father, or from the rest of the righteous in 
the home of the blest. 

Wio is Sufficient. 

Inexcusable Indifference. — In view of what has been 
said, the young candidate for the teacher's office, almost 
in despair of success, may exclaim, " Who is sufficient 
for these things ? " " Who can meet and sustain such 
responsibility ? " My answer is, the true inquirer after 
duty will not go astray. He is insufficient for these 
things who is self-confident, who has not yet learned 
his own weakness, who has never found out his own 
faults, and who rusheth to this great work, as the un- 
heeding "horse rushes into the battle," not knowing 
whither he goeth. Alas! how many there are who enter 
this profession without the exercise of a single thought 
of the responsibleness of the position, or of any of the 
great questions which must in their schools for the first 
time be presented for their decision! How many there 
are who never reflect upon the influence of their exam- 
ple before the young, and are scarcely conscious that 
their example is of any consequence ! Such, in the 
highest sense, will fail of success. How can they be 
expected to go right, where there is only one right way, 



48 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

but a thousand wrong ? Let such persons pause and 
consider, before they assume responsibilities which they 
can neither discharge nor evade. Let such ask with 
deep solicitude, " Who is sufficient for these things ? " 

The Honest Inquirer may Hope. — But to the young 
person really desirous of improvement; to him who has 
taken the first and important step toward knowledge, 
by making the discovery that everything is not already 
known ; to him who sees beforehand that there are real 
difficulties in this profession, and who is not too proud 
or self-conceited to feel the need of special preparation 
to meet them; to him who has some idea of the power 
of example in the educator, and who desires most of all 
things that his character shall be so pure as to render 
his example safe; to him who has discovered that there 
are some deep mysteries in human nature, and that they 
are only to be fathomed by careful study; to him who 
really feels that a great thing is to be done, and who has 
the sincere desire to prepare himself to do it aright; to 
him, in short, who has the trtie spirit of the teacher, — I 
may say, there is nothing to fear. An honest mind, 
with the requisite industry, is sufficient for these things. 

SECTIOIT III. THE AUBUKK STATE PEISON. 

Neatness and Order. — During my visit at Auburn in 
the autumn of 1845, I was invited by a friend to visit 
the prison, in which at that time were confined between 
six and seven hundred convicts. I was first taken 
through the various workshops, where the utmost neat- 
ness and order prevailed. As I passed along my eye 
rested upon one after another of the convicts, I confess, 
with a feeling of surprise. There were many good- 
looking men. If, instead of their parti-colored dress, 
they would have been clothed in the citizen's garb, I 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 49 

should have thought them as good in appearance as 
laboring men in general. And when, to their good ap- 
pearance, was added their attention to their work, their 
ingenuity, and the neatness of their work-rooms, my 
own mind began to press the inquiry. Why are these men 
here? 

The Library.— It was the afternoon of Saturday. 
Many of them had completed their allotted work for the 
week, and with happy faces were performing the cus- 
tomary ablutions preparatory to the sabbath. Passing 
on, we came to the library, a collection of suitable books 
for the convicts, which are given out as a reward for 
diligence to those who have seasonably and faithfully 
performed their labor. Here were many who had come 
to take their books. Their faces beamed with delight 
as they each bore away the desired volume, just as I had 
seen the faces of the happy and the free do before. 
Why are these men here ? was again pressed upon me; 
— why are these men here f 

Wyatt, the Murderer. — At this time the famous 
Wyatt, since executed upon the gallows for his crime, 
was in solitary confinement, awaiting his trial for the 
murder of Gordon, a fellow-prisoner. I was permitted 
to enter his room. Chained to the floor, he was reclin- 
ing upon his mattress in the middle of his apartment. 
As I approached him his large, black eye met mine. 
He was a handsome man. His head was well developed, 
his long, black hair hung upon his neck, and his eye 
was one of the most intelligent I ever beheld. Had I 
seen him in the senate among great men — had I seen 
him in a school of philosophers, or a brotherhood of 
poets, I should probably have selected him as the most 
remarkable man among them all, without suspecting 
his distinction to be a distinction of villainy. Why is 



50 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

that man here? thought I, as I turned away to leave 
him to his dreadful solitude. 

General Review on Sabbath Morn.— The morrow 
was the Sabbath. I could not repress my desire to see 
the convicts brought together for worship. At the hour 
of nine I entered their chapel, and found them all 
seated in silence. I was able to see most of the faces 
of this interesting congregation. It was by no means 
the worst looking congregation I had ever seen. There 
were evidently bad men there; but what congregation 
of free men does not present some such ? 

The Hour of Worship. — They awaited in silence the 
commencement of the service. When the morning 
hymn was read, they joined in the song, the chorister 
being a colored man of their own number. They sang 
as other congregations sing, and my voice joined with 
theirs. The Scripture was read. They gave a respect- 
ful attention. The prayer was begun. Some bowed in 
apparent reverence at the commencement. Others sat 
erect, and two or three of these appeared to be the 
hardened sons of crime. The chaplain's voice was of a 
deep, perhaps I should say, a fatherly tone, and he 
seemed to have the father's spirit. He prayed for these 
" wayward ones," who were deprived of their liberty for 
their offences, but whom God would welcome to His 
throne of mercy. He prayed for their homes, and for 
their friends, who this day would send their thoughts 
hither in remembrance of those in bonds. He alluded 
to the scenes of their childhood, the solicitude of their 
early friends, and the affection of their parents. When 
the words home, friend, childhood were heard, several 
of those sturdy sons of crime and wretchedness in- 
stinctively bowed their heads and concealed their faces 
in their hands; and as a father^ s Messing and a mother's 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 5I 

love were alluded to, more than one of these outcasts 
from society were observed to dash the scalding tear 
from the eye. These men feel like other men — whi/ are 
they here f was again the thought which forced itself 
upon my mind. 

The Teachers of the Convicts.— While the chaplain 
proceeded to his sermon, in the midst of the silence 
that pervaded the room, my mind ran back to their 
educators. Once these men were children like others. 
They had feelings like other children, affection, rever- 
ence, teachableness, conscience — why are they here? 
Some, very likely, on account of their extraordinary 
perversity; but most because they had a wrong educa- 
tion. More than half, undoubtedly, have violated the 
laws of their country not from extraordinary vicious- 
ness, but from the weahness of their moral principle. 
Tempted just like other and better men, they fell, be- 
cause in early childhood no one had cultivated and 
strengthened the conscience God had given them. I 
am not disposed to excuse the vices of men, nor to 
screen them from merited punishment; neither do I 
worship a " painted morality,'^ based solely upon educa- 
tion, thus leaving nothing for the religion of the Bible 
to accomplish by purifying the heart, that fountain of 
wickedness; yet how many of these men might have 
been saved to society; how many of them have powers 
which under different training might have adorned and 
blessed their race; how many of them may date their 
fall to the evil influence and poisonous example of some 
guide of their childhood, some recreant teacher of their 
early days, — God only knows ! But what a responsi- 
bility still rests upon the head of any such teacher, if 
ho did not know, or did not try to know, the avenue to 
their hearts; if he did not feel or try to feel the worth 



5a THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

of moral principle to these very fallen ones ! And what 
would be his feelings if he could look back through the 
distant days of the past, and count up exactly the 
measure of his own faithfulness and of his own neglect ? 
This the All-seeing Eye alone can do — this He who 
looketh upon the heart ever does! 

View to the Final Judgment — Teachers, go forth, 
then, conscious of your responsibility to your pupils, 
conscious of your accountability to God, — go forth, and 
teach this people; and endeavor so to teach, that when 
you meet your pupils, not in the walks of life merely, 
not perhaps in the Auburn Prison, not indeed upon the 
shores of time, but at the final Judgment, where you 
must meet them all, you may be able to give a good ac- 
count of the influence which you have exerted over 
mind. As it may then be forever too late to correct 
your errors and efface any injury done, study now to act 
the part of wisdom and the part of love. 

Study to Know, and to Do. — Study the human heart 
by studying the workings of your own; seek carefully 
the avenues to the affections; study those higher 
motives which elevate and ennoble the soul; cultivate 
that purity which shall allure the" wayward, by bright 
example, from the paths of error; imbue your own 
souls with the love of teaching and the greatness of 
your work; rely not alone upon yourselves, as if by your 
own wisdom and might you could do this great thing; 
but seek that direction which our heavenly Father never 
withholds from the honest inquirer after His guidance — 
and though the teacher's work is, and ever must be, at- 
tended with overwhelming responsibility, you will be 

SUFFICIENT FOB THESE THIKGS. 



RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER. 53 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why should education begin early ? 

2. What is your conception of education? 

3. What is the primary qualification you should look for in 
the person to whom you would intrust the education of a 
child? Why? 

4. What momentous relation does the teacher hold to the 
immortal souls committed to his care ? 

5. Why are parents primarily responsible for the results of 
their children's education ? 

6. How can the teacher ascertain the influence of the home 
upon the child ? 

7. Are we justified in judging mistakes of teachers more 
severely than those of parents ? Give a reason. 

8. Why and to what extent is the teacher responsible (a) for 
the bodily health of his pupils, (&) their intellectual growth, 
(c) their moral culture, and (d) their religious training ? 

9. (a) On what does the educative influence of the teacher 
principally depend ? (6) How can he cultivate this to become 
a power for good ? 

10. Why should a man without principle be forever ex- 
cluded from the teacher's profession ? 

11. What are the dangers of excessively cramming the mind 
of the child with knowledge ? 

12. What can the teacher do to make the children love the 
school ? 

13. What means should the teacher employ to cultivate the 
conscience of the child ? 

14. Under what conditions and to what extent may the 
teacher carry on religious instruction ? 

15. If the supporters of the school forbid religious instruc- 
tion altogether, must the teacher submit ? Qive reasons, and 
tell what course he is to take. 

16. Why should the Bible never be irreverently referred to ? 

17. Whom do you consider qualified to teach ? 

18. Of what value are accounts of crimes and criminals to 
the teacher ? 

19. (a) How may the teacher gain knowledge of the human 
heart ? (b) What practical value has this study for him ? 

20. Why is the teacher constantly in need of professional 
self-examination and advancement ? 



54 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING, 



CHAPTER III. 

PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER. 

Importance of Good Habits. — The importance of 
correct habits to any individual cannot be overrated. 
The influence of the teacher is so great upon the 
children under his care, either for good or evil, that it 
is of the utmost importance to them as well as to him- 
self that his habits should be unexceptionable. It is 
the teacher^s sphere to improve the community in 
which he moves, not only in learning, but in morals 
and manners; in everything that is "lovely and of 
good report.^' This he may do partly by precept — but 
very much by example. He teaches, luherever he is. 
His manners, his appearance, his character, are all the 
subject of observation, and to a great extent of imita- 
tion, by the young in his district. He is observed not 
only in the school, but in the family, in the social 
gathering, and in the religious meeting. How desir- 
able, then, that he should be a model in all things! 

The Teacher a Model — Man has been said to be a 
" bundle of habits;" and it has been as pithily remarked, 
"Happy is the man whose habits are his friends." It 
were well if all persons, before they become teachers, 
would attend carefully to the formation of their per- 
sonal habits. This, unhappily, is not always done — 
and therefore I shall make no apology for introducing 
in this place some very plain remarks on what I deem 
the essentials among the habits of the teacher. 



PERSONAL iiABITS OF THE TEACHER. 55 



I. Neatness, 

Cleanliness. — This implies, cleanliness of the person. 
If some who assume to teach were not proverbial for 
their slovenliness, I would not dwell on this point. On 
this point, however, I must be allowed great plainness 
of speech, even at the expense of incurring the charge 
of excessive nicety; for it is by attending to iifeio little 
things that one becomes a strictly neat person. The 
morning ablution, then, should never be omitted, and 
the comb for the hair and brush for the clothes should 
always be called into requisition before the teacher 
presents himself to the family, or to his school. Every 
teacher would very much promote his own health by 
washing the whole surface of the body every morning in 
cold water. This is now done by very many of the most 
enlightened teachers, as well as others. .When physi- 
ology is better understood, this practice will be far more 
general. To no class of persons is it more essential 
than to the teacher; for on account of his confinement, 
often in an un ventilated room, with half a hundred 
children during the day, very much more is demanded 
of the exhalents in him than in others. His only safety 
is in a healthy action of the skin. 

Care of the Teeth and Nails — The teeth should be 
attended to. A brush and clean water have saved many 
a set of teeth. It is bad enough to witness the deplor- 
able neglect of these important organs so prevalent in 
the community; but it is extremely mortifying to see a 
filthy set of teeth in the mouth of the teacher of our 
youth. The nails, too, I am sorry to say, are often 
neglected by some of our teachers, till their elony tips 



56 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

are aDything but ornamental. This matter is made 
worse, when, in the presence of the family or of the 
school, the penknife is brought into requisition to re- 
move that which should have received attention at the 
time of washing in the morning. The teacher should 
remember that it is a vulgar habit to pare or clean the 
nails while in the presence of others, and especially 
during conversation with them. 

Neat Dress. — The teacher should be neat in his dress. 
I do not urge that his dress should be expensive. His 
income ordinarily will not admit of this. He may wear 
a very plain dress; nor should it bo any way singular in 
its fashion. All I ask is, that his clothing should be in 
good taste, and ahuays clean. A slovenly dress, covered 
with dust, or spotted with grease, is never so much out 
of its proper place as when it clothes the teacher. 

Use of Tobacco. — While upon this subject I may be 
indulged in a word or two upon the use of tobacco by 
the teacher. It is quite a puzzle to me to tell why any 
man but a Turk, who may lawfully dream away half his 
existence over the fumes of this filthy narcotic, should 
ever use it. Even if there were nothing wrong in the 
use of unnatural stimulants themselves, the filthiness 
of tobacco is enough to condemn it among teachers, 
especially in the form of chewing. It is certainly 
worth while to ask whether there is not some moral 
delinquency in teaching this practice to the young, 
while it is admitted, by nearly all who have fallen into 
the habit, to be an evil, and one from which they would 
desire to be delivered. At any rate, I hope the time is 
coming when the good taste of teachers, and a regard 
for personal neatness and the comfort of others, shall 
present motives sufficiently strong to induce them to 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER. 57 

break away from a practice at once so unreasonable and 
so disgusting. 

II. Order. 

Order, System. — In this place I refer to that system 
and regularity so desirable in every teacher. He should 
practise it in his room at his boarding-house. Everything 
should have its place. His books, his clothing, should 
all be arranged with regard to this principle. The same 
habit should go with him to the school-room. His desk 
there should be a pattern of orderly arrangement. 
Practising this himself, he may with propriety insist 
upon it in his pupils. It is of great moment to the 
teacher, that, when he demands order and arrangement 
among his pupils, they cannot appeal to any breach of 
it in his own practice. 

III. Courtesy, 

Free from all Coarseness.— The teacher should ever 
be courteous, both in his language and in his manners. 
Courtesy of language may imply a freedom from all 
coarseness. There is a kind of communication, used 
among boatmen and hangers-on at bar-rooms, which 
should find no place in the teacher's vocabulary. All 
vulgar jesting, all double-entendres, all low allusions, 
should be forever excluded from his mouth. And pro- 
fanity! — can it be necessary that I should speak of this 
as among the habits of the teacher ? Yes, it is even so. 
Such is the want of moral sense in the community, that 
men are still employed in some districts whose ordinary 
conversation is poisoned with the breath of blasphemy; 
ay, and even the walls of the school-room resound to 



58 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

undisguised oaths! I cannot lind words to express my 
astonishment at the indifference of parents, or at the 
recklessness of teachers, wherever I know such cases to 
exist. 

Purity and Accuracy of Language. — Speaking of the 
language of the teacher, I might urge also that it should 
be both pure and accurate. Pure as distinguished from 
all those cant phrases and provincialisms which amuse 
the vulgar in certain localities ; and accurate as to the 
terms used to express his meaning. As the teacher 
teaches in this, as in everything, by example as well as 
by precept, he should be very careful to acquire an un- 
exceptionable use of our language, and never deviate 
from it in the hearing of his pupils or elsewhere. 

True Politeness.— There is ?i courtesy of manner also, 
which should characterize the teacher. This is not that 
ridiculous obsequiousness which some persons assume, 
when they would gain the good opinion of others. It is 
true politeness. By politeness I do not mean any par- 
ticular form of words, nor any prescribed or prescrib- 
able mode of action. It does not consist in bowing 
according to any approved plan, nor in a compliance 
simply with the formulas of etiquette in the fashionable 
world. True politeness is founded in benevolence. Its 
law is embodied in the golden rule of the Saviour: 
" Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do 
ye even so unto them." It is the exercise of real kind- 
ness. It entertains a just regard for the feelings of 
others, and seeks to do for them what would make them 
really happy. 

Politeness in the Teacher. — The teacher should pos- 
sess this quality. Whenever he meets a child, it should 
be with the looks and words of k'.ndness. Whenever he 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER. 59 

receives any token of regard from a pupil, he should 
acknowledge it in the true spirit of politeness. When- 
ever he meets a pupil in the street, or in a public place, 
he should cordially recognize him. In this way and a 
thousand others, which, if he have the right spirit, will 
cost him nothing, he will cultivate true courtesy in his 
pupils. He can do it in this way more effectually than 
he can by formally lecturing upon the subject. 

The Secret of Teaching Politeness. — True politeness 
will always win its true reciprocation. Two teachers 
were once walking together in the streets of a large 
town in New England. Several lads whom they met 
on the sidewalk raised their caps as they exchanged the 
common salutations with one of the teachers. " What 
boys are these that pay you such attention as they pass ?" 
inquired the other. " They are my scholars," answered 
his friend. "Your scholars ! Why, how do you teach 
them to be so very polite ! Mine are pretty sure never 
to look at me, and generally they take care to be on the 
other side of the street." " I am unable to tell," said 
his friend ; " I never say anything about it. I usually 
bow to them, and they are as ready to bow to me." The 
whole secret consisted in this teacher's meeting his 
pupils in the spirit of kindness. 

Manners Neglected. — I would not, however, discour- 
age a teacher from actually inculcating good manners 
by precept. It should indeed be done. The manners 
of pupils are too much neglected in most of our schools, 
and, I am sorry to say, in most of our families. Our 
youth are growing up with all the independence of 
sturdy young republicans; and, in their pride of free- 
dom from governmental restraint, they sometimes show 
a want of respect for their seniors and superiors, which 



6o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

is quite mortifying to all lovers of propriety. It is the 
teacher's province to counteract this ; and in order to 
do it well, he should possess the virtue of true courtesy, 
both in theory and practice. 

IV. Punctuality, 

Example of the Teacher.— This, as a halit, is essen- 
tial to the teacher. He should be punctual in every- 
thing. He should always be present at or before the 
time for opening the school. A teacher who goes late 
to school once a week, or even once a month, cannot 
very well enforce the punctual attendance of his pupils. 
I once knew a man who for seven long years was never 
late at school a single minute, and seldom did he fail to 
reach his place more than five minutes before the time. 
I never knew but one such. I have known scores who 
were frequently tardy, and sometimes by the space of a 
tvhole hour ! 

Dismiss Punctually, — A teacher should be as punct- 
ual in dismissing as in opening his school. I know 
that some make a virtue of keeping their schools beyond 
the regular hours. I have always considered this a very 
questionable virtue. If a teacher wishes to stay beyond 
his time, it should be either with delinquents, who have 
some lessons to make up, or with those who voluntarily 
remain. But, after all, if he has been strictly punctual 
to the hours assigned for his various duties in school, 
there will scarcely be the necessity for him, or any of 
his pupils to remain beyond the time for dismission; and, 
as a general rule, a regard both for his own health and 
theirs should forbid this. It is better to work diligently 
while one does work, and not to protract the time of 
labor, so as to destroy one's energy for to-morrow. 

Punctuality a Cardinal Virtue.— This habit of punct- 



PERSONAL HABITS OF THE TEACHER. 6 1 

uality should run through everything. He should be 
punctual at all engagements; he should be studiously 
so in all the detail of school exercises; he should be so 
at his meals, at his private studies, at his hour of retir- 
ing at night, and of rising in the morning, and also at 
his exercise and recreation. This is necessary to a truly 
exemplary character, and it is equally as necessary to 
good health. 

V. HaUts of Study. 

Time for Regular Study.— Unless the teacher takes 
care to furnish his own mind, he will soon find his pres- 
ent stock of knowledge, however liberal that may be, 
fading from his memory and becoming unavailable. 
To prevent this, and to keep along with every improve- 
ment, he should regularly pursue a course of study. 1 
say regularly; for, in order to accomplish anything 
really desirable, he must do something every day. By 
strict system in all his arrangements, he may find time 
to do it ; and whenever I am told by a teacher that he 
cannot find time to study, I always infer that there is a 
want of order in his arrangements, or a want of punctu- 
ality in the observance of that order. Human life, in- 
deed, is short; but most men still further abridge the 
period allotted to them by a disregard of system. 



A High Standard. — What has now been said, upon 
the teacher^s spirit, the teachefs responsibility, and the 
teacher's personal habits, will embody perhaps my views 
upon the character of the individual, who may be en- 
couraged to engage in the work of teaching. Nor do I 
think the requirements in this department have been 
overstated.. I know, indeed, that too many exercise the 
teacher's functions without the teacher's spirit as here 



62 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

described, and without the sense of responsibility here 
insisted on, and with habits entirely inconsistent with 
those here required. But this does not prove that such 
teachers have chosen the right calling, or that the chil- 
dren under their care are under safe and proper guid- 
ance. It proves rather that parents and school officers 
have too often neglected to be vigilant, or that suitable 
teachers could not be had. 

Excelsior ! — Let none think of lowering the standard 
to what has been, or what may even now be, that of a 
majority of those who are engaged in this profession. 
Every young teacher's eye should be directed to the very 
best model in this w^ork; and he should never be satis- 
fied with bare mediocrity. Excelsioe, the motto of 
the Empire State, may well be the motto of the young 

teacher. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Whom do you consider a well-informed teacber? 

2. Mention the different branchts of the commou-schGol 
curriciikim, and state briefly the value of each of them. 

3. Of what practical use to the teacher is knowledge of the 
general laws of the human mind ? 

4. If you should be called upon to inquire into the general 
scholarship of a candidate for teacher, (a) in what studies 
would you examine him, and (6) what would you consider the 
minimum of attainment in each ? 

5. What knowledge is of greatest worth to the teacher ? 

6. Some one has said, " A teacher should be a specialist only 
in the science and art of teaching." {a) Explain this fully. 
\b) Do you agree with it ? Give reasons. 

7. Why is it necessary that the teacher should constantly 
strive for broader scholarship ? 

8. Explain w^hy every teacher ought to subscribe for at least 
oue professional periodical. 

9. Why shv>uld the teacher keep well informed concerning 
important current events ? 

10. What should be the highest ambition of the teacher? 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 63 



CHAPTER IV. 

LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE 
TEACHER. 

Profession Advancing, so is the Pay.— I am now 

about to enter an extensive field. Since the teacher is 
to be the life of the school, it is of great consequence 
that he have within him the means of sustaining life. 

As the statutes in many of the states prescribe the 
mimmu7n of attainment for the teacher, I might per- 
haps spare myself the labor of writing on this point. 
Yet in a thorough work on the Theory and Practice of 
Teaching, this very properly comes under consideration. 

The profession of teaching is advancing. The pres- 
ent standard of acquirement demanded of the teacher 
excludes many who were considered quite respectable in 
their vocation ten years ago. This may well be so; for, 
within that time, quite an advance has been made in 
the compensation offered to teachers. It is but reason- 
able that acquirement should keep pace with the reward 
of it. Indeed, the talent and attainment brought into 
the field must always be in advance of the rate of com- 
pGusation. The people must be first convinced that 
teachers are better than they were years ago, and then 
they will be ready to reward them. In Massachusetts, 
af^cording to statistics in the possession of the Hon. 
Horace Mann, Secretary of the Board of Education, the 
compensation of teachers within ten years has advanced 
thirty-three per cent; nor is it reasonable to suppose 



64 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

that this advance has been made, independent of any 
improvement among the teachers. Their system of 
supervision has increased in strictness, during this time, 
in an equal ratio ; and many teachers, who were entirely 
incompetent for their places, have thus been driven to 
other employments. The cause is still onward; and 
the time is not far distant when the people will demand 
still more thorough teachers for the common schools, 
and they will find it for their interest to pay for them. 

What a Teacher Ought to Know. — Under these cir- 
cumstances it will not be my design to give the very 
lowest qualifications for a teacher at present. I shall 
aim to describe those which a teacher ought to possess, 
in order to command, for some time to come, the respect 
of the enlightened part of the community. I will not 
say that a man, with less attainment than I shall de- 
scribe, may not keep a good school; I have no doubt 
that many do. Yet if our profession is to be really re- 
spectable, and truly deserving of the regard of an en- 
lightened people, we must have a still higher standard 
of qualification than I shall now insist on. The follow- 
ing is a list of the studies of which every teacher should 
have a competent knowledge. I add also, to each, such 
word of comment as appears to be necessary: 

1. Orthography. — This implies something more than 
mere spelling. Spelling is certainly indispensable. No 
person should ever think of teaching who is not an ac- 
curate speller. But the nature and powers of letters 
should also be mastered. We have in our language 
about forty elementary sounds; yet we have but twenty- 
six characters to represent them. Our alphabet is there- 
fore impeTfect. This imperfection is augmented by the 
fact that several of the letters are employed each to rep- 



LITERARY aUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 65 

resent several different sounds. In other cases, two 
letters combined represent the element. There are also 
letters, as c, q, and x, which have no sound that is not 
fully represented by other letters. Then a very large 
number of our letters are silent in certain positions, 
while they are fully sounded in others. It were much 
to be desired that we might have b, perfect alphabet; that 
is, as many characters as we have elementary sounds, 
and that each letter should have but one sound. For 
the present this can not be; and the present generation 
of teachers, at least, will have to teach our present 
orthography. Those systems of orthography are much 
to be preferred which begin wilh the ele^nentary sounds, 
and then present the letters as their representatives, to- 
gether with the practice of analyzing words into their 
elements, thus showing at once the silent letters and 
the equivalents. These systems may be taught in half 
the time that the old systems can be, and when ac- 
quired they are of much greater practical utility to the 
learner. 

2. Reading. — Every teacher 'Should be a good reader. 
Not more than one in every hundred among teachers 
can now be called a good reader. To be able to read 
well implies a quick perception of the meaning as well 
as a proper enuifciation of the words. It is a branch 
but poorly taught in most of our schools. Many of the 
older pupils get above reading before they have learned 
to read well; and, unfortunately, many of our teachers 
cannot awaken an interest in the subject, because very 
likely they cannot read any better than their scholars. 

It would be interesting to ascertain how large a pro- 
portion of our youth leave the schools without acquiring 
the power readily to take the sense of any common 



66 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

paragraph whicli they may attempt to read. I am in- 
clined to think the number is not small.' In this way 
I account for the fact that so many cease to read as soon 
as they leave school. It costs them so mucli effoi^t to 
decipher the meaning of a book, that it counteracts the 
desire for the gratification and improvement it might 
otherwise afford. It should not be so. The teacher 
should be a model of good reading; he should be en- 
thusiastic in this branch, and never rest till he has ex- 
cited the proper interest in it among the pupils, from 
the oldest to the youngest, in the school. 

It would be well if our teachers could be somewhat 
acquainted with the Latin and Greek languages, as this 

1 Siuce writing the above, my eye has fallen upon the follow- 
ing, from the second Annual Report of the Secretary of the Mass. 
Board of Education : " I have devoted," says Mr. Mann, "espe- 
cial pains to learn, with some degree of numerical accuracy, how 
far the reading in oiu' schools is an exercise of the mind in 
thinking and feeling, and how far it is a barren action of the or- 
gans of speech upon the atmosphere. My information is derived 
principally from the written statements of the school committees 
of the different towns— gentlemen, who are certainly exempt from 
all temptation to disparage the schools they superintend. The 
result is that more than eleven twelfths of all the children in the 
reading-classes in our schools do not understand the meaning of 
the words they read; that they do not mas^r the sense of their 
reading-lessons; and that the ideas and feelings intended by the 
author to be conveyed to and excited in the reader's mind, still 
rest in the author's intention, never having yet reached the place 
of their distination. It would hardly seem that the combined 
efforts of all persons engaged could have accomplished more in 
defeating the true objects of reading. How the cause of this 
deficiency is to be apportioned among the legal supervisors of the 
schools, parents, teachers, and authors of text-books, it is impos- 
sible to say; but surely it is an evil gratuitous, widely prevalent, 
and threatening the most alarming consequences." 



LITERARY QUALlFICATiONS OF THE TEACHER. 67 

would afford them great facilities in comprehending 
and defining many of our own words. As this cannot 
be expected for the present, a substitute may be sought 
in some analysis of our derivative words. Several works 
have somewhat recently been prepared to supply, as far 
as may be, the wants of those who have not studied the 
classics. I should advise every teacher, for his own 
benefit, to master some one of these. 

3. Writing. — It is not respectable for the teacher of 
the young to be a bad writer; nor can it ever become 
so, even should the majority of bad writers continue to 
increase. The teacher should take great pains to write 
a plain, legible hand. This is an essential qualification. 

4. Geography. — A knowledge of the principles of 
Geography is essential. This implies an acquaintance 
with the use of globes, and the art of map-drawing. 
The teacher should be so well versed in geography that, 
with an outline map of any country before him, he 
could give an intelligent account of its surface, people, 
resources, history, etc. ; and if the outline map were not 
at hand, he ought to be able to draw one from memory 
— at least, of each of the grand divisions of the earth, 
and of the United States. 

5. History. — The teacher should be acquainted with 
history — at least, rthe history of the United States. He 
can hardly teach geography successfully without a com- 
petent knowledge of both ancient and modern history. 
It should, in the main, be taught in our common schools 
in connection with geopraphy. 

6. Mental Arithmetic. — Let every teacher be thor- 
oughly versed in some good work on this subject. Ool- 
burn's was the first, and it is probably the best, that has 
been prepared. That little book has done more than 



68 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

any other for the improvement of teaching in this coun- 
try. It is not enough that the teacher is able in some 
way to oltain the answers to the questions proposed. 
He should be able to give the reason for every step in 
the process he takes to obtain them, and to do it in a 
clear and concise manner. It is this which constitutes 
the value of this branch as a discipline for the mind. 

I may never forget my first introduction to this work. 
On entering an academy as a student in 1827, after I 
had "ciphered through ^^ some four or five arithmetics 
on the old plan, my teacher asked me if I had ever 
studied Mental Arithmetic, extending to me the little 
book above named. " No, sir." " Perhaps you would 
like to do so." I opened to the first page, and saw this 
question: " How many thumbs have you on your right 
hand?" This was enough; the color came into my 
face, and I pettishly replied : " I think I can find out the 
number of my thumbs without studying a looh for it.^' 
"But," said the teacher, "many of our young men have 
studied it, and they think they have been profited. If 
you will take it and turn over till you find a little ex- 
ercise for your mind, I think you will like it." His 
manner was open and sincere, and I took the little 
book. In three weeks I had mastered it; and I had 
gained in that time more knowledge of the principles of 
arithmetic th-an I had ever acquired in all my life be- 
fore. I no longer "saw through a glass darkly." 

7. Written Arithmetic. — This everybody demands of 
the teacher; and he is scarcely in danger of being 
without fair pretensions in this branch. He should, 
however, know it by its principles , rather than by its 
rules and facts. He should so understand it that, if 
every ai'ithmetic in the world should be burned, he 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 69 

could still make another, constructing its rules and ex- 
plaining their principles. He should understand arith- 
metic so well that he could teach it thoroughly though 
all text-books should be excluded from his school-room. 
This is not demanding too much. Arithmetic is a cer- 
tain science f and used every day of one's life— the 
teacher should be an entire master of it. 

8. English Grammar.— It is rare that a teacher is 
found without some pretensions to English Grammar; 
yet it is deplorable to observe how very few have any 
liberal or philosophical acquaintance with it. In many 
cases it is little else than a system of barren technicali- 
ties. The teacher studies one book, and too often takes 
that as his creed. In no science is it more necessary to 
be acquainted with several authors. The person who 
has studied but one text book on grammar, even if that 
be the best one extant, is but poorly qualified to teach 
this branch. There is a philosophy of language which 
the teacher should carefully study; and if within his 
power, he should have some acquaintance with the pecu- 
liar structure of other languages besides his own. It 
can hardly be expected that the common teacher should 
acquire an accurate knowledge of other languages by 
actually studying them. As a substitute for this, I 
would recommend that the teacher should very carefully 
read some small standard work on general grammar. 
In this science the mind naturally runs to ligotry; and 
there is no science where the learner is apt to be so con- 
ceited upon small acquirements as in grammar. Let 
the teacher spare no pains to master this subject. 

■9. Algebra. — This branch is not yet required to be 
taught in all our schools; yet the teacher should have a 
thorough acquaintance with it. Even if he is never 



70 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

called upon to teach it (and it never should be intro- 
duced into our common schools till very thorough at- 
tainm_ents are more common in the other branches), 
still it so much improves the mind of the teacher that 
he should not be without a knowledge of it. He will 
teach simple arithmetic much better for knowing alge- 
bra. I consider an acquaintance with it indispensable 
to the thorough teacher, even of the common school. 

10. Geometry. — The same may be said of this branch 
that has been said of algebra. Probably nothing disci- 
plines the mind more effectually than the study of 
geometry. The teacher should pursue it for this reason. 
He will teach other things the better for having had 
this discipline, to say nothing of the advantage which a 
knowledge of the principles of geometry will give him, 
in understanding and explaining the branches of math- 
ematics. 

11. Plane Trigonometry and Surveying.— In many 
of our schools these branches are required to be taught. 
They are important branches in themselves, and they 
also afford good exercise for the mind in their acquisi- 
tion. The young teacher, especially the male teacher, 
should make the acquirement. 

12. Natural Philosophy.— This branch is not taught 
in most of our district schools. The teacher, however, 
should understand it better than it is presented in 
many of the simple text -books on this subject. He 
should have studied the vliilo8opliy of its principles, and 
be fully acquainted with their demonstration. If pos- 
sible, he should have had an opportunity also of seeing 
the principles illustrated by experiment. This is a 
great field: let not the teacher be satisfied with crop- 
ping a little of the herbage about its borders. 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 7 1 

13. Chemistry.— As a matter of intelligence, the 
teacher should have acquaintance with this branch. It 
is comparatively a new science, but it is almost a science 
of miracles. It is beginning to be taught in our com- 
mon schools; and that department of it which relates to 
agriculture is destined to be of vast importance to the 
agricultural interests of our country. " Instead of con- 
jecture, and hazard, and doubt, and experiment, as here- 
tofore, a knowledge of the composition of soils, the food 
of plants, and the processes of nature in the culture 
and growth of crops would elevate agriculture to a con- 
spicuous rank among the exact sciences." ^ The teacher 
should not be behind the age in this department. 

14. Human Physiology. — The teacher should well 
understand this subject. There is an unpardonable 
ignorance in the community as to the structure of the 
human body, and the laws of health, the observance of 
which is, in general, a condition of longevitj'', not to say 
of exemption from disease. By reference to statistics, 
it has been ascertained that almost a fourth part of all 
the children that are born die before they are one year 
old. More than one third die before they are five years 
of age; and, before the age of eight, more than one 
half of all that are born return again to the earth ! Of 
those who survive, how many suffer the miseries of lin- 
gering disease, almost sighing for death to deliver them 
from the pangs of life ! There is something deplorably 
wrong in our philosophy of living, else the condition of 
man would not so commonly appear an exception to the 
truth that God does all things well.* Dr. Woodward, 

1 Colonel Young. 

^ " II is the vast field of ignorance pertaining to these subjects 
in which quackery thrives and fatieus. No one who knows any- 



72 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

late of the Massachn setts State Lunatic Hospital, says: 
" From the cradle to the grave, we suffer punishment 
for the violation of the laws of health and life. I have 
no doubt that half the evils of life, and half the deaths 
that occur among mankind, arise from ignorance of 
these natural laws; and that a thorough knowledge of 
them would diminish the sufferings incident to our 
present state of being in very nearly the same propor- 
tion." I know not how an acquaintance with these 
laws can be in any way so readily extended as through 
the agency of our teachers of the young. At any rate, 
the teacher himself should understand them, both for 
his own profit and the means thus afforded him of being 
directly useful in the discharge of his duties to others. 
I have already shown that he is responsible to a great 
extent for the bodily health of his pupils. A thorough 
knowledge of physiology will enable him to meet this 
responsibility. 

15. Intellectual Philosophy. — This is necessary for 
the teacher. His business is with the mind. He, of all 
men, should know something of its laws and its nature. 
He can know something, indeed, by observation and in- 
trospection; but he should also learn by careful study. 



thing of the orgaus and functions of the human system, and of 
the properties of those objects in nature to which that system is 
related, can hear a quack descant upon the miraculous virtues of 
his nostrums, or can read his advertisements in the newspapers, 
— wherein, fra<hilently towards man and impiously towards God, 
he promises to sell an ' Elixir of Life,' or * The Balm of Immortal- 
ity,' or 'Resurrection Pills,'— without contempt for his igno- 
rance or detestation of his guilt. Could the quack administer his 
nostrums to the great enemy, Denlh, then indeed w?e might expect 
to live forever I"— Horace Mann. 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 73 

His own improvement demands it, and his usefulness 
depends upon it. 

16. Moral Philosophy. — A knowledge of this may be 
insisted on for the same reasons which apply to intel- 
lectual philosophy. It is so important that the moral 
nature of the child be rightly dealt with, that he is a 
presumptuous man who attempts the work without the 
most careful attention to this subject. 

17. Rhetoric and Logic. — These are of great service 
to the teacher personally, as means of mental discipline 
and the cultivation of his own taste. Even if he is 
never to teach them, they will afiord him much assist- 
ance in other departments of instruction. He cer- 
tainly should have the advantage of them. 

18. Book-keeping. — Every teacher should know some- 
thing of book-keeping, at least by single entry; and also 
be conversant with the ordinary forms of business. 
The profound ignorance on this subject among teachers 
is truly astonishing.^ Book-keeping should be a com- 
mon-school study. In looking over the able report of 
the Superintendent of Common Schools in New York, 
I notice in fifty-three counties, during the winter of 
1845-46, that among 225,540 pupils in the common 
schools only 922 studied book-keeping! That is, a 

* A teacher, who had kept a private school, was met in a coun- 
try store one da}'^ by one of his patrons, who paid him for the 
tuition of his child, asking at the same time for a receipt. The 
teacher stared vacantly at his patron. "Just give nie a bit of 
paper," said the patron, "to show you've got the money." 
"Oh, yes, sir," said the teacher; and, taking a pen and paper, 
wrote the following: 

"ffiy I have got the money. 

-J D ." 



74 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

study wMcli in practical life comes home to the interest 
not only of every merchant, but of every farmer, every 
mechanic, — in short, every business man, — is almost en- 
tirely neglected in the schools; while it is yet true that 
our courts of justice display evidences of the most 
deplorable ignorance in this important art. Some still 
keep their accounts on bits of paper; others use books, 
but without any system, order, or intelligibility; and 
others still mark their scores in chalk, or charcoal, upon 
the panel of the cellar-door! 

The teacher should qualify himself not only to un- 
derstand this subject, but to teach it in such a way that 
it can be easily comprehended by the classes in our com- 
mon schools. 

19. Science of Government. — The teacher should at 
least be well acquainted with the history and genius of 
our own government, the constitution of the United 
States, and of his own state. In a republican govern- 
ment it is of great importance that the young, who are 
to take an active part in public measures as soon as they 
arrive at the age of twenty-one, should before that time 
be m.ade acquainted with some of their duties and rela- 
tions as citizens. This subject has been introduced 
successfully into many of our common schools; but 
whether it is to be matter of formal teaching or not, it 
is a disgrace^ to a teacher and to his profession to be 

* Not loug since a teaclier of a public school afforded lasting 
arausemeut for the haugei-s-on at a coiiutr}' grocery. He was 
jeered for belonging to the Whig party, by which Mr. Tyler was 
brought into power. "No, no," Sidd he, "I voted for Gen. 
Harrison, but I never wted for John Tyler.'' "How did you do 
that?" inquired a bystander. " Why, I cut Tyler's name off of 
the ticket, to be sure!" 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 75 

ignorant of the provisions of the constitution for the 
mode of choosing our rulers. 

20. Drawing.— The good teacher should understand 
the principles of drawing. He should also be able to 
practise this art. It is of great consequence to him. 
Without neglect of other things, children can be very 
profitably taught this art in the common schools. In 
the absence of apparatus, it is the teacher's only way of 
addressing the eye of his pupils in illustrating his 
teaching. Every teacher should take pains, not only to 
draw, but to draw well. 

21. Vocal Music. — It is not absolutely essential, 
though very desirable, to the good teacher, that he 
should understand music, theoretically and practically. 
Music is becoming an exercise in our best schools, and 
wherever introduced and judiciously conducted it has 
been attended with pleasing results. It promotes good 
reading and speaking, by disciplining the ear to dis- 
tinguish sounds; and it also facilitates the cultivation 
of the finer feelings of our nature. It aids very much 
in the government of the school, as its exercise gives 
vent to that restlessness which otherwise would find an 
escapement in boisterous noise and whispering — and 
thus it often proves a safety -valvey through which a love 
of vociferation and activity may pass of[ in a more harm- 
less and a more pleasing way. " The schoolmaster that 
cannot sing,'' says Martin Luther, "I would not look 
upon." Perhaps this language is too strong; but it is 
usually more pleasant to look upon a school where the 
schoolmaster can sing. 



General Knowledge Desirable. — I have thus gone 
through with a list of studies which, it seems to me. 



76 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

every one wlio means to be a good teacher, even of a 
common school, should make himself acquainted with. 
I would not condemn a teacher who, having other good 
qualities, and a thorough scholarship as far as he has 
gone, might lack several of the branches above named. 
There have been many good teachers without all this 
attainment; but how much better they might have been 
with it! 

I have made this course of study as limited as I pos- 
sible could, taking into view the present condition and 
wants of our schools. 'No doubt even more will be 
demanded in a few years. I would have the present 
race of teachers so good, that they shall be looked upon 
by those who succeed them as their "worthy and efficient 
2}redecessors" 

Systematic Self-improvement. — I ought in this place 
to add that the teacher increases his influence, and con- 
sequently his usefulness, in proportion as he makes him- 
self conversant with general knowledge. This is too 
much neglected. The teacher, by the fatigue of his 
employment, and the circumstances of his life, is 
strongly tempted to content himself with what he al- 
ready knows, or at best to confine himself to the study 
of those branches which he is called upon to teach. He 
should stoutly resist this temptation. He should always 
have some course of study marked out which he will 
systematically pursue. He should, as soon as possible, 
make himself acquainted generally with the subject of 
astronomy, the principles of geology— in short, the vari- 
ous branches of natural history. He will find one field 
after another open before him, and if he will but have 
the perseverance to press forward, even in the laborious 



LITERARY QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TEACHER. 77 

occupation of teaching, he may make himself a well- 
informed man. 

A Suggestion. — I will venture one other suggestion. 
I have found it a most profitable thing in the promotion 
of my own improvement, to take up annually, or oftener, 
some particular subject to be pursued with reference to 
writing an extended lecture upon it. This gives point 
to the course of reading, and keeps the interest fixed. 
When the thorough investigation has been made, let 
the lecture be written from memory, embodying all the 
prominent points, and presenting them in the most 
striking and systematic manner. It should be done, 
too, with reference to accuracy and even elegance of 
style, so that the composition may be yearly improved. 
In this way certain subjects are forever fixed in the 
mind. One who carefully reads for a definite object, 
and afterwards writes the results from memory, never 
loses his hold upon the facts thus apiwopriated, 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by the expression, " The teacher teaches 
wherever he is''"i 

2. "What do you deem the most essential among the personal 
habits of the teacher ? Give reasons. 

3. How is politeness taught? Give an example. 

4. What is your opinion regarding the advisability of keep- 
ing delinquents after school? What does Mr. Page say con- 
cerning this practice ? 

5. Why is punctuality called **a cardinal virtue ^^ of the 
teacher ? 

6. What should be the principal study of the teacher? 
Why ? 

7. In what directions should the teacher constantly aim to 
improve himself ? 

8. Give a brief outhne of Mr. Page's views regarding {a) the 
teacher's spirit, (6) the teacher's responsibility, (c) the teacher's 
personal habits. 



78 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



CHAPTEE V. 

RIGHT yiEAVS OF EDIJOATIOK 

The Artistes Work. — Every teacher, before he 
begins the work of instruction, should have some defi- 
nite idea of what constitutes an education; otherwise 
he may work to very little purpose. The painter, who 
would execute a beautiful picture, must have beforehand 
a true and clear conception of beauty in his own mind. 
The same may be said of the sculptor. That rude block 
of marble, unsightly to the eyes of other men, contains 
the godlike form, the symmetrical proportion, the life- 
like attitude of the finished and polished statue; and 
the whole is as clear to his mental eye before the chisel 
is applied as it is to his bodily vision when the work is 
completed. With this perfect ideal in the mind at the 
outset, every stroke of the chisel has its object. Not a 
blow is struck, but it is guided by consummate skill; 
not a chip is removed, but to develop the ideal of the 
artist. And when the late unsightly marble, as if by 
miraculous power, stands out .before the astonished spec- 
tator in all the perfection of beauty, — when it almost 
breathes and speaks, — it is to the artist but the realiza- 
tion of his own conception. 

A Spectator's Efforts. — Now let the same astonished 
and delighted spectator, with the same instruments, 
attempt to produce another statue from a similar block. 
On this side he scores too deep; on the other he leaves 
a protuberance; here by carelessness he encroaches 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 79 

upon the rounded limb; there by accident he hews a 
chip from off the nose; by want of skill one eye ill-mates 
the other; one hand is distorted as if racked by pangs 
of the gout; the other is paralyzed and deathlike. Such 
would be his signal failure. Thus he might fail a thou- 
sand times. Indeed, it would be matter of strange sur- 
prise if in a thousand efforts he should once succeed. 

The Difference.— Now the difference between the 
artist and the spectator lies chiefly in this, — the one 
knows beforehand what he means to do; the other 
works without any plan. The one has studied beauty 
till he can see it in the rugged block; the ofher only 
knows it when it is presented to him. The former, hav- 
ing an ideal, produces it with unerring skill; the latter, 
having no conception to guide him, brings out de- 
formity. 

True and False Teachers.— " What sculpture is to 
the block of marble," says Addison, " education is to the 
human soul; " and may I not add, that the sculptor is a 
type of the true educator, — while the spectator, of whom 
I have been speaking, may aptly represent too many 
false teachers who without study or forethought enter 
upon the delicate business of fashioning the human 
soul, blindly experimenting amidst the wreck of their 
heaven-descended material, maiming and marring, with 
scarcely the possibility of final success, — almost with 
the certainty of a melancholy failure! 

Blindness of Employers. — In other things besides 
education men are wiser. They follow more the teach- 
ings of nature and of common sense. But in education, 
where a child has but one opportunity for mental train- 
ing, as he can be a child but once, — where success, un- 
erring success, is everything to him for time and eter- 



8o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING 

nity, and where a mistake may be most ruinous to him, 
— in education, men often forget their ordinary wisdom 
and providence, and commit the most important con- 
cerns to the most incompetent hands. " The prevailing 
opinions," says Geo. B. Emerson, " in regard to this art 
are such as the common sense of mankind and the 
experience of centuries have shown to be absurd as to 
every other art and pursuit of civilized life. To be 
qualified to discourse upon our moral and religious 
duties, a man must be educated by years of study; to 
be able to administer to the body in disease, he must be 
educated by a careful examination of the body in health 
and in disease, and of the effects produced on it by 
external agents; to be able to make out a conveyance 
of property, or to draw a writ, he must be educated ; to 
navigate a ship, he must be educated by years of service 
before the mast or on the quarter-deck; to transfer the 
products of the earth or of art from the producer to the 
consumer, he must be educated; to make a hat or a 
coat, he must be educated by years of apprenticeship; 
to make a plow, he must be educated; to make a nail, 
or a shoe for a horse or an ox, he must be educated; 
but to prepare a man to do all these things — to train 
the body in its most tender years, according to the laws 
of health, so that it should be strong to resist disease; 
to fill the mind with useful knowledge, to educate it to 
comprehend all the relations of society, to bring out all 
its powers into full and harmonious action; to educate 
the moral nature, in which the very sentiment of duty 
resides, that it may be fitted for an honorable and 
worthy fulfilment of the public and private offices of 
life, — to do all this is supposed torequire no study, no 
apprenticeship, no preparation! " 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 8 1 

Defects in Teaching. — Many teachers, therefore, en- 
couraged by this unaccountable indifference in the com- 
munity, have entered the teacher's profession without 
any idea of the responsibilities assumed or of the end to 
be secured by their labors, aside from receiving, at the 
close of their term, the compensation for their service 
in dollars and cents. And even many who have entered 
this profession with good intentions have made the 
most deplorable mistakes from a want of an adequate 
idea of what constitutes an education. Too often has 
educating a child been considered simply the act of 
imparting to it a certain amount of knowledge, or 
of "carrying it through" a certain number of studies, 
more or less. Education has too frequently been held 
to be a cultivation of the intellectual to the neglect of 
the moral powers; and the poor body, too, except among 
savages, has had but little share in its priviliges or 
benefits. In a very large number of our schools, the 
physical and the moral have both been sacrificed to the 
intelleotual. Even some of our public speakers have 
dwelt upon the necessity of intelligence to the perpe- 
tuity of our free institutions, scarcely seeming to be 
aware that intelligence, without moral principle to di- 
rect and regulate it, might become the very engine 
through which evil men might effect our overthrow. 
Who has not seen that an educated man without virtue 
is but the more capable of doing evil ? Who does not 
know that knowledge misdirected becomes, instead of "a 
boon to be desired, a bane to be deprecated ? 

A Great Question.— Erom what has been said, I place 
it among the highest qualifications of the teacher that 
he should have /ws^ views of education. I consider it 
all-important that he should have a well-defined object 



S2 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

at which to aim, whenever he meets a young mind in 
the transition state. He should have an ideal of a well- 
educated human soul, tenanting a healthy, well-de- 
veloped human body; an ideal which he at once and 
systematically labors to reach, as does the sculptor when 
he commences his work upon the quarried marble. 
" What is it to educate a human being aright ? " should 
be one of the first questions the candidate for the 
teacher's office should ask himself with the deepest 
seriousness. I say the candidate; for this question 
should be settled if possible before he begins his work. 
It is a great question, and he may not be able to answer 
it in a day. Let him consult the dictates of his own 
mind, — let him consult the teachings of experience and 
of wisdom, as they are to be found in the writings of 
Milton, Locke, Wyse, Cousin, Brougham, and others of 
the Eastern Continent, and of Wayland, Potter, Mann, 
Gr. B. Emerson, D wight, and many others of our own 
countrymen. Let him, enlightened by all this, carefully 
observe human nature around him; consider its tenden- 
cies, its wants, and its capabilities; and after a patient 
survey of all tlie truth he can discover upon the subject, 
let him come to an honest conclusion as to what is a 
correct answer to the query with which he started — 
"What is it to educate a human being aright?" 

Results of Inquiry. — The conclusions of the honest 
and intelligent inquirer after the truth in this matter 
will be something like the following: That education 
(from e and ducOf to lead forth) is development; that it 
is not instruction merely — knowledge, facts, rules — 
communicated by the teacher, but it is discipline; it is a 
waking up of the mind, a growth of the mind, — growth 
by a healthy assimilation of wholesome aliment. It is 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. S^ 

an inspiring of the mind with a thirst for knowlege, 
growth, enlargement, — and then a disciplining of its 
powers so far that it can go on to educate itself. It is 
the arousing of the child's mind to think, without 
thinking for it; it is the awakening of its powers to 
observe, to rememher, to reflect, to combine. It is not 
a cultivation of the memory to the neglect of every 
thing else; but it is a calling forth of all the faculties 
into harmonious action. If to possess facts simply is 
education, then an encyclopaedia is better educated than 
a man. 

Knowledge not Undervalued. — It should be remarked 
that though knowledge is not education, yet there will 
be no education without knowledge. Knowledge is ever 
an incident of true education. 'No man can be properly 
educated without the acquisition of knowledge; the 
mistake is in considering knowledge the end when it is 
either the incident or the means of education. The 
discipline of the mind, then, is the great thing in intel- 
lectual training; and the question is not, how much 
have I acquired? — but, how have my powers been 
strengthened in the act of acquisition ? 

Education Has Reference to the Whole Man. — Nor 
should the intellectual be earlier cultivated than the 
moral powers of the mind. The love of moral truth 
should be as early addressed as the love of knowledge. 
The conscience should be early exercised in judging of 
the character of the pupiFs own acts, and every oppor- 
tunity afforded to strengthen it by legitimate use. Nor 
■ should the powers of the mind be earlier cultivated than 
those of the body. It is the theory of some, indeed, 
that the body should engross most of the attention for 
several of the first years of childhood. This, I think, is 



84 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

not Nature's plan. She cultivates all the powers at once 
— the body, mind, and heart. So should the teacher do. 
"Education," in the pertinent language of Mr. Fox/ 
"has reference to the wJiole man — the body, the mind, 
and the heart; its object, and, when rightly conducted, 
its effect, is to make him a complete creature after his 
kind. To his frame it will give vigor, activity, and 
beauty; to his senses, correctness and acuteness; to his 
intellect, power and truthfulness; to his heart, virtue. 
The educated man is not the gladiator, nor the scholar, 
nor the upright man, alone; but a just and well-bal- 
anced combination of all three. Just as the educated 
tree is neither the large root, nor the giant branches, nor 
the rich foliage, but all of them together. If you would 
mark the perfect man, you must not look for him in 
the circus, the university, or the church, exclusively; 
but you must look for one who has 7nens sana in cor- 
2Jore sano — a healthful mind in a healthful body. The 
being in whom you find this union is the only one 
worthy to be called educated. To make all men such 
is the object of education. 

Egregious Mistakes. — I have dwelt thus fully on 
this subject because it is so obvious that egregious mis- 
takes are made in education. How many there are who 
are called " good scholars " in our schools of whom we 
hear nothing after they go forth into the world. Their 
good scholarship consists in that which gives them no 
impulse to go on to greater attainments by themselves. 
Their learning is either that of receiMon — as the sponge 
takes in water — or that of mere memory. Their educa- 
tion is not discipline; it kindles none of those desires 

* Lecture before the Am. lustitute, 1835. 



RIGHT VIEWS OF EDUCATION. 85 

which nothing but further progress can satisfy ; it im- 
parts none of that self-reliance which nothing but im- 
possibilities can ever subdue. While these are pointed 
out by their teachers as the ornaments of their schools, 
there are others, known as the heavy, dull, "poor 
scholars," in no way distinguished but by their stupid- 
ity, — of whom no hopes are entertained because of them 
nothing is expected, — who in after-life fairly outstrip 
their fellows and strangely astonish their teachers. 
Almost every teacher of fifteen years' experience has 
noticed this. Now, why is it so ? 

Misjudgment of Character — There must have been 
somehow in such cases a gross misjudgment of character. 
Either those pupils who promised so much by their 
quickness, were educated wrong, and perhaps educated 
too much, while their teachers unwittingly and uninten- 
tionally educated their less distinguished companions far 
more judiciously; or else nature in such cases must be 
said to have been playing such odd pranks that legit- 
imate causes could not produce their legitimate effects. 
We must charge Nature as being extremely capricious, or 
we must allege that the teachers entirely misunderstood 
their work, failing where they expected most, and suc- 
ceeding, as if by chance — almost against their will, 
where they expected least. I incline to the latter alter- 
native; and hence I infer that there is such a thing as 
teaching a mind, naturally active, too much,— exciting it 
too much, — so that it will prematurely exhaust its ener- 
gies and gladly settle back into almost imbecility; and 
that there is such a thing as leaving the mind so much 
to its own resources that, without dazzling the beholder 
like the flash of the meteor when it glares upon the 
startled vision, it may be silently gathering materials to 



86 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

support the more enduring light of the morning-star 
which anon will arise in majesty and glory. 

Certain Results. — It will be well for our youth when 
our teachers shall so understand human nature, and so 
comprehend the science and the art of education, that 
these mistakes shall seldom occur; and when he who 
tills the nobler soil of the mind shall, with as much 
faith and as much certainty as he who tills the literal 
field, rely upon the fulfilment of Heaven's unchangeable 
law: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap." 

QUESTIONS. 

1. a) Distinguish between artists and artisans. 6) Apply 
this to teachers. 

2. What are the dangers of blind experimenting in teaching ? 
(G^dning experience at the expense of the child.) 

3. What qualifications should those possess who employ 
teachers ? 

4. Mention wrong aims in education. Give reasons why 
they should not be adopted ? 

5. What should be the teacher's highest ideal ? 

6. Explain the meaning of education. 

7. a) What value has the acquisition of knowledge ? 6) 
Why should it not be considered the end, but merely a means, 
in education ? 

8. a) Describe two common errors in judging the character 
of pupils, l) How can they be avoided ? 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 87 



CHAPTER VI. 

EIGHT MODES OF TEACHINa 

Aptness to Teach. — From what has been said of 
Education, it is very obvious that it is no small thing to 
be a successful teacher. It is admitted by all that the 
teacher should be apt to teach. He cannot be useful 
without this. He may have an unimpeachable char- 
acter; he may have the most liberal and thorough 
literary acquirements; he may deeply feel his responsi- 
bility, and yet after all he may fail to teach success- 
fully. 

Aptness Can be Acquired. — J^^we^s to teach has 
been said to be a native endowment, a sort of instinct, 
and therefore incapable of being improved by experience 
or instruction — an instinct such as that which guides 
the robin, though hatched in an oven, to build a perfect 
nest like that of its parent, without ever having seen 
one. I am of opinion that such instincts in men are 
rare; but that aptness to teach, like aptness to do any 
thing else, is usually an acquired power, based upon a 
correct knowledge of what is to be done, and some ac- 
curate estimate of the fitness of the means used for the 
end. If there are exceptions to this, they are very un- 
common; and the safer way, therefore, for the majority 
of teachers is to study carefully the rationale of their 
processes, and to rely rather upon sound and philo- 
sophical principles in their teaching than upon a very 
doubtful intuition. 



88 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

The Way Literary Nurselings Are Made.— One of 

the most common errors into which young teachers fall 
(and some old ones, too) is that of misjudging of the 
degree of assistance which the young scholar needs in 
the pursuit of learning. There are a few who forget 
the difficulties which impeded their own perception of 
new truths when learners, and therefore have no sym- 
pathy with the perplexities which surround the children 
under their charge when they encounter like difficulties. 
They refuse to lend a helping hand, even when it is 
needed, and by making light of the child's doubts, per- 
haps sneering at his unsuccessful struggles, they dis- 
hearten him so far that imaginary obstacles become in- 
surmountable, and he gives up in despair. But a far 
more numerous class tend toward the other extreme. 
From a mistaken kindness, or a mistaken estimate of 
the child's ability, or both, they are disposed to do quite 
too much for him, and thus they diminish his power to 
help himself. The child that is constantly dandled 
upon the lap of its nurse, and borne in her arms to 
whatever point it may desire to go, does not soon learn 
to walk; and when it at length makes the attempt, it 
moves not with the firm tread of him who was early 
taught to use his own limbs. There is a great deal of 
literary dandling practised in our schools; and as a 
consequence, a great many of our children are mere 
sickly nurselings, relying upon leading-strings while in 
the school, and falling, for very weakness, just as soon 
as the supporting hand is withdrawn. This evil is so 
common, and in some instances so monstrous,* that I 
shall be pardoned if I dwell upon it a little more fully. 

*Not long since I visited a school, where the teacher, with 
much self-complacency, requested me to examine the writing of 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 89 

Two Processes. — In illustrating this subject, I must 
mention two processes of teaching — not, indeed, exactly 
opposite to each other, though widely different — into 
one or both of which many of our teachers are very 
liable to fall. I shall, for the sake of a name, designate 
the former as the 

gECTIOK I. POURIKG-Il^ PROCESS. 

Pouring In. — This consists in leduriny to a class of 
children upon every subject which occurs to the teacher, 
it being his chief aim to bring before them as many facts 
in a limited time as possible. It is as if he should 
provide himself with a basket of sweetmeats, and every 
time he should come within reach of a child, should 
seize him and compel him to swallow — regardless of the 
condition of his stomach — whatever trash hjB should 
happen first to force into his mouth. Children are 
indeed fond of sweetmeats, but they do not like to have 
them administered', and every physiologist knows there 
is such a thing as eating enough even of an agreeable 
thing to make one sick, and thus produce loathing 
forever after. 

Victims of Kindness. — Now many teachers are just 
such misguided caterers for the mind. They are ready 
to seize upon the victims of their kindness, force open 
their mental gullets, and pour in, without mercy and 

the children. It was indeed very fair. But when I drew from 
hiin the fact that he first wrote each page himself with a lead 
pencil, and only required his scholars to hlack Ida marks over with 
ink; and that with unremitting labor he did this week after week 
for all the writers in his school, I knew not which most to wonder 
at, the docility of the children or the weakness of the teacher. 
The writing ceased to be wonderful. 



90 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

without discretion, whatever sweet thing they may have 
at hand, even though they surfeit and nauseate the poor 
sufferer. The mind, by this process, becomes a mere 
passive recipient, taking in without much resistance 
whatever is presented till it is full. 

Passive Recipient. — " A passive recipient ! " said one 
to his friend ; " what is a passive recipient 9" *^ A pas- 
sive recipient," replied his friend, " is a two-gallon jug. 
It holds just two gallons, and, as it is made of potters' 
ware, it can never hold but just two gallons." This is 
not an unfit illustration of what I mean by making the 
mind a passive recipient. Whenever the teacher does 
not first excite inquiry, first prepare the mind by tvak- 
ing it up to a desire to know, and if possible to find out 
by itself, bat proceeds to think for the child, and to 
give him the results, before they are desired, or before 
they have been sought for — he makes the mind of the 
child a tive-gallonjug, into which he may pour just two 
gallons, but no more. And if duy after day he should 
continue to pour in, day after day he may expect that 
what he pours in will all ru7i over. The mind so far as 
retention is concerned, will act like the jug; that is, a 
part of what is poured in to-day will be diluted by a 
part of that which is forced in to-morrow, and that 
again will be partially displaced and partially mingled 
with the next day's pouring, till at length there will be 
nothing characteristic left. But aside from retention, 
there is a great difference between the jug and the mind. 
The former is inert material, and may be as good a jug 
after such use as before. But the mind suffers by every 
unsuccessful effort to retain. 

Mind Weakened. — This process of lecturing children 
into imbecility is altogether too frequently practised; 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. . 9 1 

and it is to be hoped that intelligent teachers will 
pause and inquire before they pursue it further. 

Drawing Out. — The other process to which I wish to 
call attention is that which, for the sake of distinguish- 
ing it from the first, I shall denominate the 

SECTION II. DRAWING-OUT PROCESS. 

<< Leading Questions." — This consists in asking what 
the lawyers call leading questions. It is practised, 
usually, whenever the teacher desires to help along the 
pupil. " John," says the teacher when conducting a 
recitation in Long Division, ''John, what is the number 
to be divided called ? " John hesitates. " Is it the 
dividend ? " says the teacher. " Yes, sir — the dividend." 
" Well, John, what is that which is left after dividing 
called ?— the remainder— is it ? " " Yes, sir." A vis- 
itor now enters the room, and the teacher desires to 
show off John's talents. " Well, John, of what denomi- 
nation is the remainder ?" 

John looks upon the floor. 

" Is n't it always the same as the dividend, John ? " 

" Yes, sir." 

"Very well, John," says the teacher, soothingly, 
" what denomination is this dividend ? " pointing to the 
work upon the board. " Dollars, is it not ? " 

"Yes, sir; dollars." 

" Very well; now what is this remainder ?" 

John hesitates. 

" Why, dollars too, is n't it ? " says the teacher. 

" Oh yes, sir — dollars I " says John, energetically, 
while the teacher complacently looks at the visitor to 
see if he has noticed how correctly John has answered. 

An Example of "Teaching History P»— A class is 



92 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

called to be examined in History. They have committed 
the text-book to memory; that is, they have learned the 
loorcls. They go on finely for a time. At length one 
hesitates. The teacher adroitly asks a question in the 
language of the text. Thus: "Early in the morning , 
on the VXth of Septemlter, what did the whole British 
army do ? " The pupil, thus timely reassured, proceeds : 
"Early in the morning, on the llth of Septemher,the 
whole British army, drawn up in two divisions, com- 
menced the expected assault." Here again she pauses. 
The teacher proceeds to inquire: " Well, — 'Agreeably 
to the plan of Howe, the right wing ' did what ? " 

Pupil. " AgreeaUy to the plan of Hoive, the right 
iving — " 

Teacher. " The right loing, commanded hy whom ? " 

Pupil. " Oh ! ' Agreeably to the plan of Howe, the 
right luing, commanded hy Knyphausen, made a feint 
of crossing the Brandy wine at Chad's Ford,' " etc. 

Spectators Astonished. — This is a very common way 
of helping a dull pupil out of a difficulty; and I have 
seen it done so adroitly that a company of visitors would 
agree that it was wonderful to see how thoroughly the 
children had been instructed. 

The «Yes, Sir,'' Process.— I may further illustrate 
the drawing-out process by describing an occurrence 
which, in company with a friend and fellow-laborer, I 
once witnessed. A teacher whose school we visited 
called upon the class in Colburn's First Lessons. They 
rose, and in single file marched to the usual place, with 
their books in hand, and stood erect. It was a very 
good-looking class. 

" Where do you begin ? " said the teacher, taking the 
book. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 93 

Pupils On the 80th page, 3d question. 

Teacher, Eead it, Charles. 

Charles, {Reads.) " A man being asked how many 
sheep he had said, that he had them in two pastures : in 
one pasture he had eight; that three fourths of these 
were just one third of what he had in the other. How 
many were there in the other ? " 

Teacher. Well, Charles, you must first get one fourth 
of eight, must you not. 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Well, one fourth of eight is two, isn't it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir; one fourth of eight is two. 

Teacher. Well, then, three fourths will be three 
times two, wont it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Well, three times two are six, eh ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Very well. {A pause.) Now the book 
says that this six is just one third of what he had in the 
other pasture, don't it. 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Then if six is one third, three thirds will 
be — three times six, wont it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. And three times six are eighteen — ain't it ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Then he had eighteen sheep in the other 
pasture, had he ? 

Charles. Yes, sir. 

Teacher. Next, take the next one. 

At this point I interposed, and asked the teacher if he 
would request Charles to go through it alone. " Oh, 
yes," said the teacher, " Charles, you may do it again." 



94 ' THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Charles again read the question, and — looked up. 
'* Well," said the teacher, " you must first get one fourth 
of eight, must n't you ? " " Yes, sir." " And one fourth 
of eight is two, is n't it ? " " Yes, sir." And so the pro- 
cess went on as before till the final eighteen sheep were 
drawn out as before. The teacher now looked round with 
an air which seemed to say, " Now I suppose you are 
satisfied." 

" Shall / ask Charles to do it again ? " said I. The 
teacher assented. Charles again read the question, and 
again — looked up. I waited, and he waited ; — but 
the teacher could not wait. " Why, Charles," said he, 
impatiently; •* you want one fourth of eight, do n't you ? " 
" Yes, sir," said Charles, promptly; and I thought best 
not to insist further at this time upon a repetition of "yes 
sir" and the class were allowed to proceed in their own 
way. 

Study Discouraged.— This is, indeed, an extreme 
case, and yet it is but a fair sample of that teacher's 
method of stupefying mind. This habit of assisting 
the pupil to some extent is, however, a very common 
one, and as deleterious to mind as it is common. The 
teacher should at once abandon this practice, and re- 
quire the scholar to do the talking at recitation. I need 
hardly suggest that such a course of extraction at reci- 
tation, aside from the waste of time by both parties, 
and the waste of strength by the teacher, has a direct 
tendency to make the scholar miserably superficial. 
For why should he study, if he knows from constant 
experience that the teacher, by a leading question, will 
relieve him from all embarrassment ? It has oftpu been 
remarked, that " the teacher makes the school." Per- 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 95 

haps in no way can he more effectually make an ineffi- 
cient school than by this drawing-out ijvocess. 

Prominent Faults. — I look upon the two processes 
just described as very prominent and prevalent faults 
in our modern teaching; and if by describing them thus 
fully, I shall induce any to set a guard upon their prac- 
tice in this particular, I shall feel amply rewarded. 

SECTION III. THE MOKE EXCELLENT WAY. 

Helping the Pupil is Dangerous when Excessive. — 
It is always a very difficult question for the teacher to 
settle, " How far shall I help the pupil, and how far 
shall the pupil be required to help himself ? " The 
teaching of Nature would seem to indicate that the pupil 
should be taught mainly to depend on his own resources. 
This, too, I think is the teaching of common sense. 
Whatever is learned should be so thoroughly learned 
that the next and higher step may be comparatively 
easy. And the teacher should always inquire, when he 
is about to dismiss one subject, whether the class under- 
stand it so well that they can go on to the next. He 
may, indeed, sometimes give a word of suggestion during 
the preparation of a lesson, and by a seasonable hint save 
the scholar the needless loss of much time. But it is a 
very great evil if the pupils acquire the habit of running 
to the teacher, as soon as a slight difficulty presents it- 
self, to request him to remove it. Some teachers, when 
this happens, will send the scholar to his seat with a 
reproof, perhaps; while others, with a mistaken kind- 
ness, will answer the question or solve the problem 
themselves, as the shortest way to get rid of it. Both 
these courses are, in gfeneral, wrong. 

The inquirer should never be frowned upon; this may 



96 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

discourage him. He should not be relieved from labor, 
as this will diminish his self-reliance without enlighten- 
ing him; for whatever is done /or a scholar without his 
having studied closely upon it himself, makes but a 
feeble impression upon him, and is soon forgotten. 

T»he True Medium.— The true way is neither to 
discourage inquiry nor answer the question. Converse 
with the scholar a little as to the principles involved in 
the question; refer him to principles which he has be- 
fore learned, or has now lost sight of; perhaps call his 
attention to some rule or explanation before given to 
the class : go just so far as to enlighten him a little, and 
put Jiim on the scent; then leave him to achieve the vic- 
tory himself. There is a great satisfaction in discover- 
ing a difficult thing for one's self; and the teacher does 
the scholar a lasting injury who takes this pleasure 
from him. The teacher should be simply suggestive, 
but should never take the glory of a victory from the 
scholar by doing his work for him — at least, not until 
he has given it a thorough trial himself. 

Not To-day, Sir.— The skill of the teacher, then, will 
be best manifested if he can contrive to awaken such a 
spirit in the pupil that he shall be very unwilling to be 
assisted; if he can kindle up such a zeal that the pupil 
will prefer to try again and again before he will consent 
that the teacher shall interpose. I shall never forget a 
class of boys, some fourteen or fifteen years of age, who 
in the study of algebra had imbided this spirit. A diffi- 
cult question had been before the class a day or two, 
when I suggested giving them some assistance. " Not 
to day, si?'/' was the spontaneous exclamation of near- 
ly every one. Nor shall I forget the expression that 
beamed from the countenance of one of them, when, 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 97 

elated with his success, he forgot the proprieties of the 
school and audibly exclaimed, '' Fve got it! I've got 
it ! ''' It was a great day for him ; he felt, as he never 
before had felt, his own might. Nor was it less gratify- 
ing to me to find that his fellows were still unwilling to 
know his method of solution. The next day a large 
number brought a solution of their own, each showing 
evidence of originality. A class that has once attained 
to a feeling like this will go on to educate themselves 
when they shall have left the school and the living 
teacher. 

A More Excellent Way.— As to the communication 
of knowledge, aside from that immediately connected 
with school-studies, there is a more excellent way than 
that of pouring it in by the process already described. 
It is but just that I should give a specimen of the 
method of doing this. I shall now proceed to do so, 
under the head of — 

SECTIOK IV. WAKING UP MIND. 

Other than Book-studies. — The teacher of any expe- 
rience knows that, if he will excite a deep and profitable 
interest in his school, he must teach many things be- 
sides book-studies. In our common schools there will 
always be a company of small children, who, not yet 
having learned to read understandingly, will have no 
means of interesting themselves, and must depend 
mainly upon the teacher for the interest they take in 
the school. This to them is perhaps the most critical 
period of their lives. AVhatever impression is now 
made upon them will be enduring. If there they be- 
come disgusted with the dulness and confinement of 
school, and associate the idea of pain and repulsiveness 



9^ THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

with that of learning, who can describe the injury done 
to their minds ? If, on the other hand, the teacher is 
really skilful, and excites in them a spirit of inquiry, 
and leads them in suitable ways to observe, to think, 
and to feel that the school is a happy place even for 
children, it is one great point gained. 

General Exercise. — I may suggest here, then, that it 
would be well to set apart a few minutes once a day for 
a general exercise in the school, when it should be re- 
quired of all to lay by their studies, assume an erect at- 
titude, and give their undivided attention to whatever 
the teacher may bring before "them. Such a course 
would have its physiological advantages. It would re- 
lieve the minds of all for a few minutes. The erect 
attitude is a healthful one. It would also serve as a 
short respite from duty, and thus refresh the older 
scholars for study. I may further add that, for the 
benefit of these small children, every general exercise 
should be conducted with reference to tliein, and such 
topics should be introduced as they can understand. 

An Example. — It is the purpose of the following re- 
marks to give a specimen of the manner of conducting 
such exercises, for a few days, with reference to luahing 
up mind in the school and also in the district. 

Announcement. — Let us suppose that the teacher has 
promised that on the next day, at ten minutes past ten 
o'clock, he shall request the whole school to give their 
attention five minutes, while he shall bring something 
there to which he shall call the attention, especially of 
the little boys and girls under seven years of age. This 
very announcement will excite an interest both in school 
and at home ; and when the children come in the morn- 
ing, they will be more wakeful than usual till the fixed 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 99 

time arrives. It is very important that this time should 
be fixed, and that the utmost punctuality should be ob- 
served, both as to the beginning and ending of the exer- 
cise at the precise time. 

Preparation. — The teacher, it should be supposed, has 
not made such an announcement without considering 
what he can do when the time arrives. He should have 
a well-digested plan of operation, and one which he 
knows beforehand that he can successfully execute. 

Ear of Corn.— Let us suppose that in preparing for 
this exercise he looks about him to find some object 
which he can make his text ; and that he finds upon his 
study-table an ear of cor 71. He thinks carefully what 
he can do with it, and then with a smile of satisfaction 
he puts it in his pocket for the "general exercise." 

Presentation. — In the morning he goes through the 
accustomed duties of the first hour, perhaps more cheer- 
fully than usual, because he finds there is more of ani- 
mation and wakefulness in the school. At the precise 
time he gives the signal agreed upon, and all the pupils 
drop their studies and sit erect. When there is perfect 
silence and strict attention by all, he takes from his 
pocket the ear of corn, and in silence holds it up before 
the school. The children smile, for it is a familiar ob- 
ject ; and they probably did not suspect they were to be 
fed with corn. 

Teacher's Address to the Childxtn,— Teacher. "Now, 
children,'' addressing himself to the youngest,"! am 
goiug to ask you only one question to-day about this ear 
of corn. If you can answer it I shall be very glad ; if 
the little boys and girls upon the front seat cannot give 
the answer, I will let those in the next seat try ; and so 
on till all have tried, unless our time should expire be* 



100 ^ THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

fore the right answer is given. I shall not he surprised 
if none of you give the answer I am thinking of. As 
soon as I ask the question, those who are under seven 
years old, that think they can give an answer, may raise 
their hand. AVhat is this ear of corn for ? " 

The Answers. — Several of the children raise their 
hands, and the teacher points to one after another in 
order, and they rise and give their answers. 

Mary. It is to feed the geese with. 
' John. Yes, and the hens too, and the pigs. 

Sarah. My father gives corn to the cows. 

By this time the hands of the youngest scholars are all 
down; for, having been taken a little by surprise, their 
knowledge is exhausted. So the teacher says that those 
between seven and ten years of age may raise their hands. 
Several instantly appear. The teacher again indicates, 
by pointing, those who may give the answer. 

Charles. My father gives corn to the horses when the 
oats are all gone. 

Daniel. We give it to the oxen and cows, and we fat 
the hogs upon corn. 

Laura It is good to eat. They shell it from the cobs 
and send it to mill, and it is ground into meal. They 
make bread of the meal, and we eat it. 

Closing at the ^ Right Time. — This last pupil has 
looked a little further into domestic economy than those 
who answered before her. But by this time, perhaps be- 
fore, the five minutes have been nearly expended, and yet 
several hands are up, and the faces of several are beam- 
ing with eagerness to tell their thoughts. Let the 
teacher then say, " We will have no more answers to- 
day. You may think of this matter till to-morrow, and 
then I will let you try again. I am sori-y to tell you 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 101 

that none of yon have mentioned the use I was thinking 
of, though I confess I expected it every minute. I shall 
not be surprised if no one of you give this answer to- 
morrow. I shall now put the ear of corn in my desk, 
and no one of you must speak to me about it till to- 
morrow. You may now take your studies." 

Regular Studies Resumed. — The children now 
breathe more freely, while the older ones take their 
studies, and the next class is called. In order to succeed, 
it is absolutely necessary that the teacher should posi- 
tively refuse to hold any conversation with the children 
on the subject till the next time for * general exercise.' 

"Wait Till To-morrow." — During the remainder of 
the forenoon the teacher will very likely observe some 
signs of thoughtfulness on the part of those little chil- 
. dren who have been habitually dull before. And per- 
haps some child, eager to impart a new discovery, will 
seek an opportunity to make it known during the fore- 
noon. " Wait till to-morrow," should be the teacher's 
only reply. 

The Children Go Home.— Now let us follow these 
children, as they are dismissed, while they bend their 
steps toward home. They cluster together in groups as 
they go down the hill, and they seem to be earnestly 
engaged in conversation. 

" I do n't believe it has any other use," says John. 

"Oh, yes, it has," says Susan; "our teacher would 
not say so if it had not. Besides, did you not see what 
a knowing look he had when he drew up his brow and 
said he guessed we could n't find it out ? " 

"Well, I mean to ask my mother," says little Mary; 
" I guess she can tell." 

They Observe. — By and by, as they pass a field of corn. 



102 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Samuel sees a squirrel running across the street, with 
both his cheeks distended with ' plu7ider.' 

They Inquire. — At home, too, the ear of corn is made 
the subject of conversation. " What is an ear of corn 
for, mother?" says little Mary, as soon as they have 
taken a seat at the dinner-table. 

Mother. An ear of corn, child? Why, don't you 
know ? It is to feed the fouls, and the pigs, and the 
cattle ; and we make bread of it too — 

Mary, Yes, we told all that, but the teacher says that 
is not all. 

Mother, The teacher 9 

Mary, Yes, ma'am, the teacher had an eat of corn 
at school, and he asked us what it was for; and after we 
had told him everything we could think of, he said 
there was another thing still. IsTow I want to find out, 
so that 1 can tell him. 

The Family Become Interested. — The consequence of 
this would be that the family, father, mother, and older 
brothers and sisters would resolve themselves into a 
committee of the whole on the ear of corn. The same, 
or something like this, would be true in other families 
in the district; and, by the next morning, several chil- 
dren would have some thing further to communicate on 
the subject. The hour would this day be awaited with 
great interest, and the first signal would produce perfect 
silence. 

Second Day. — The teacher now takes the ear of corn 
from the desk, and displays it before the school; and 
quite a number of hands are instantly raised, as if eager 
to be the first to tell what other use they have discov- 
ered for it. 

The teacher now says pleasantly, "The use I am 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. IC3 

thinking of you have all observed, I have no doubt; it 
is a very important use indeed; but as it is a little out 
of the common course, I shall not be surprised if you 
cannot give it. However, you may try." 

"It is good to boil! " * says little Susan, almost spring- 
ing from the floor as she speaks. 

"And it is for squirrels to eat," says little Samuel. 
" I saw one carry away a whole mouthful yesterday from 
the cornfield." 

Other Pupils Interested.— Others still mention other 
uses, which they have observed. They mention other 
animals which feed upon it, or other modes of cooking 
it. The older pupils begin to be interested, and they 
add to the list of uses named. Perhaps, however, none 
will name the one the teacher has in his own mind; he 
should cordially welcome the answer if perchance it is 

' The children themselves will be sure to find some new an- 
swers to such questions as the above. In giving in substance this 
lecture to a gathering of teachers in the autumn of 1845, in one 
of the busy villages of New York, where also the pupils of one of 
the district schools were present by invitation, I had described a 
process similar to that which has been dwelt upon above I had 
given the supposed answers for the first day, and had described 
the children as pressing the question at home. When I liad pro- 
ceeded as far as to take up the ear of corn the second day, and 
had spoken of the possibilit}' that the true answer to the question 
might not be given, I turned almost instinctively to the class of 
children at my right, saying, " Now what is the ear of corn for? " 
A little boy some six years of age, who hnd swallowed every 
word, and whose face glowed as if there was not room enough 
for his soul within him. bounded upon his fi-et, and forgetting 
the publicity of the place, and the gravity of the chairman of the 
meeting, clapping his hands forcil)ly together, " Jt 's to pop/" he 
exclaimed emphatically, very much to the amusement of the 
audience. His mind had been waked up. 



104 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

given; if none should give it, he may do as he thinks 
best about giving it himself on this occasion. Perhaps, 
if there is time he may do so — after the following man- 
ner: — 

The Secret Revealed.—" I have told you that the 
answer I was seeking was a very simple one; it is some- 
thing you have all observed, and you may be a little dis- 
appointed when I tell you. The use I have been think- 
ing of for the ear of corn is this : — It is to plant. It is 
for seed, to propagate that species of plant called corn." 
Here the children may look disappointed, as much as to 
say, " We knew that before."^ 

A New Question. — The teacher continues: " And this 
is a very important use for the corn; for if for one year 
none should be planted, and all the ears that grew the 
year before should be consumed, we should have no more 
corn. This, then, was the great primary design of the 
corn ; the other uses you have named were merely sec- 
ondary. But I mean to make something more of my 
ear of corn. My next question is: Do other plants 

HAVE SEEDS ? " ' 

Here is a new field of inquiry. Many hands are in- 
stantly raised ; but as the five minutes by this time have 
passed, leave them to answer at the next time. 

New Interest. — " Have other plants seeds 9 " the chil- 
dren begin to inquire in their own minds, and each be- 
gins to think over a list of such plants as he is familiar 
with. When they are dismissed, they look on the way 
home at the plants by the roadside, and when they reach 
home they run to the garden. At the table they inquire 
of their parents, or their brothers and sisters. 

' Plant is here used in the popular sense. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. I05 

Impart Instruction. — At the next exercise, they will 
have more than they can tell in five minutes as the re- 
sults of their own observation and research. When 
enough has been said by the children as to the plants 
which have seeds, the next question may be : Do all 
PLANTS HAVE SEEDS ? This question will lead to much 
inquiry at home wherever botany is not well understood. 
There are many who are not aware that all plants have 
seeds. Very likely the ferns (common brakes) will be 
noticed by the children themselves. They may also 
name several other plants which do not exhibit their 
apparatus for seed-bearing very conspicuously. This 
will prepare the way for the teacher to impart a little 
information. Nor is their any harm in his doing so, 
whenever he is satisfied that the mind has been suitably 
exercised. The mind is no longer a " passive recipient ;" 
and he may be sure that by inquiry it has increased its 
capacity to contain, and any fact which now answers 
inquiry, will be most carefully stored up. 

Prepared for More Diflacult Work.— The next ques- 
tion may be: Do trees have seeds ? As the children 
next go out, their eyes are directed to the trees above 
them. The fruit-trees, the walnut, the oak, and per- 
haps the pine will be selected as those which have seeds. 
They will, however, mention quite a number which do 
not, or which, they think, do not have seeds. Among 
these may be the elm, the birch, and the Lombardy 
poplar. After hearing their opinions, and the results of 
their observations, take one of their exceptions as the 
subject of the next question : Does the elm have seeds ? ^ 

' It is a very common opinion in the country tliat the elm has 
no seeds. I once knew a man who grew gray under the shade of 
a large elm, and who insisted that it never bore any seeds. 



Io6 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

This will narrow their inquiries down to a specific case, 
and every elm in the district will be inquired of as to 
its testimony on this point. 

A Promise.— If the children can any of them collect 
and give the truth in the matter, so much the better; 
but if they, after inquiring of their parents and their 
grandparents, as I have known a whole school to do, 
come back insisting that the elm has no. seeds, after 
hearing their reasons for their belief, and perhaps the 
opinions of their parents, you may promise to tell them 
something about it at the next exercise. This will 
again awaken expectation, not only among the children, 
but among the parents. All will wish to know what 
you have to bring out. 

A Caution. — Great care should be taken not to throw 
any disparagement upon the opinions of parents. Per- 
haps, after giving the signal for attention, you may pro- 
ceed as follows: — 

Example of Teaching. — "Has the elm-tree any Seeds 9 
Perhaps, children, you may recollect after the cold win- 
ter has passed away, that, along in the latter part of 
March or the first of April, we sometimes have a warm, 
sunny day. The birds perhaps appear and begin to sing 
a little, and as you look up to the elm, you notice that 
its buds seem to swell, and you think it is going to put 
out its leaves. Everybody says we are going to have an 
early spring. But after this the cold, frosty nights and 
windy days come on again, and then you think the 
leaves cannot come out so early. Xow, if you observe 
carefully, the leaves do not come out till about the 20th 
of May, or perhaps the first of June. Did you ever see 
anything like what I have described ?" 

" Yes, sir, we remember tliat.'^ 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. IO7 

"Well, the next time yon see the buds begin to open, 
just break off a twig of a good, large tree, and you will 
find they are not the leaf-huds. But if you will watch 
them carefully for two or three weeks, you will find 
that each bud will put out some beautiful little flowers, 
brightly colored and slightly fragrant. If you will still 
continue to watch them, you will find, as the flowers 
fall off, that seed-vessels are formed, shaped very much 
like the parsnip - seed. These will grow larger and 
larger every day, and by and by they will turn brown 
and look as if they were ripe. Just about this time the 
leaves will come out; and soon after, these seeds, dur- 
ing some windy day or night, will all fall off. The 
ground will be covered with thousands of them. Per- 
haps you have seen this." 

"Yes, sir," says John; "grandpa calls that elm-dust." 

"Perhaps next year you can watch this, and ask your 
parents to examine it with you. But the five minutes 
are ended." 

The Recipient Has Gained Capacity. — Now infor- 
mation thus communicated will never be forgotten. 
The mind, having been put upon the stretch, is no 
longer a passive recipient. 

A New Question. — The next question: How are 
SEEDS DISSEMINATED ? — (of coursc explaining the term 
— ' disseminated '). 

Results. — This will bring in a fund of information 
from the pupils. They will mention that the thistle- 
seed flies, and so does the seed of the milkweed ; that 
the burs of the burdock, and some other seeds, are pro- 
vided with hooks by which they attach themselves to 
the hair of animals or the clothirig of men, and ride 
away to their resting-place, which may be a hundred 



I08 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

miles off. Some fall into the water and sail away to 
another shore. Some, like the seed of Touch-me-not, 
are thrown at a distance by the bursting of the elastic 
pericarp; others, as nuts and acorns, are carried by 
squirrels and buried beneath the leaves. These facts 
would mostly be noticed by children when once put 
upon observation. 

Still Two Other Questions. — Next question:— Jre 
plants pro2oagated in any other loay than by seeds 9 

This question would call their attention to the various 
means of natural and artificial propagation, by layers, 
by offsets, by suckers, by grafting, by inoculation or 
budding, etc. 

Again : Have any plants more ways than one of natu- 
ral projoagation ? Some have one way only, by seeds, 
as the annual plants; some have two, — by seeds, and by 
roots, as the potato; some have three,— as the tiger-lily, 
by side-bulbs from the roots, by stalk-bulbs, and by the 
seeds. This can be extended indefinitely. 

SECTION^ V. KEMAEKS. 

Simply a Specimen. — Let it be remembered that the 
above has been given simply as a specimen of what 
could easily be done by an ingenious teacher with as 
common a thing as an ear of corn for the text. Any 
other thing would answer as well. A chip, a tooth or a 
bone of an animal, a piece of iron, a feather, or any 
other object, could be made the text for adroitly bring- 
ing in the uses of uwod, the food and habits of animals, 
the use and comparative value of metals, the covering 
of birds, their inigration, the covering of animals, etc. 
Let the teacher but think what department he will 
dwell upon, and then he can easily select this text; and. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. I09 

if lie has any tact, he can keep the children constantly 
upon inquiry and observation. 

Advantages. — The advantages of the above course 
over simply lecturing to them on certain subjects — that 
is, over the pouring-in process — are many and great. 
Some of the most obvious I will briefly state. — 

Inquiry and Observation is Cultivated.— 1. It imme- 
diately puts the minds of the children into a state of 
vigorous activity. They feel that they are no longer 
2Jassive recipients. They are incited to discover and as- 
certain for themselves. They are, therefore, profitably 
employed both in and out of school, and as a consequence 
are more easily governed. A habit of observation is cul- 
tivated in them; and what an advantage is this for a 
child ! It is almost unnecessary to remark that many 
people go through the world without seeing half the ob- 
jects which are brought within their reach. It would be 
the same to them if their eyes were half the time closed. 
If they travel through a country presenting the most 
beautiful scenery, or the most interesting geological 
features, they see nothing. They grow up among all 
the wonders of God^s works, amid all the displays of His 
wisdom, of His design, to no purpose. They study none 
of the plans of Nature; and by all the millions of ar- 
rangements which God has made to delight the eye, to 
gratify the taste, to excite the emotions of pleasure in- 
stead of pain, they are neither the happier nor the 
wiser. 

What a blessing, then, it is to a child to put his mind 
upon inquiry; to open his eyes to observe what his 
Creator intended His intelligent creatures should behold, 
of His goodness. His wisdom. His power. And how far 
superior is he who teaches a child to see for himself, and 



110 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

to think for himself, to him who sees and thinks /or the 
child, and thus practically invites the pupil to close his 
own eyes and grope in darkness through the instructive 
journey of life. 

Parents Benefited and Their Interest in the School 
Secured. — 2. It is of great service to tlie parents in the 
district to have this wakijig-up process in operation. 
Our children are sometimes our best teachers. Parents 
are apt to grow rusty in their acquirements, and it is no 
doubt one of the designs of Providence that the inquisi- 
tiveness of childhood should preserve them from sinking 
into mental inactivity. AVho can hear the inquiries of his 
own child after knowledge without a desire to supply his 
wants ? Now it is sight for the teacher to use this in- 
strumentality to wake up mind in his district. Parents, 
by the course I have recommended, very soon become 
interested in these daily questions of the teacher; and 
they are often as eager to know what is the next question 
as the children are to report it. This course, then, will 
supply profitable topics of conversation at the fireside, 
and very likely will encourage also the pursuit of useful 
reading. It will, moreover, soon awaken a deeper interest 
in the school on the part of the parents. They will be- 
gin to inquire of one another as to this new measure; 
and when they find by conference that the feeling in this 
matter is becoming general, they will desire to visit the 
school to witness this as well as the other operations of 
the teacher. This will secure parental cooperation, and 
thus in every way the influence of the school will be 
heightened. It is no small thing for a teacher to enlist 
the interest of his patrons in the success ol his school ; 
and this ist he most happily done when it is achieved 
through the medium of the pupils themselves. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 1 1 i 

Teacher is Improved — 3. It wakes up the teacher's 
own mind. This is by no means the least important 
point to be gained. The teacher, by the very nature of 
his employment, by daily confinement in an unhealthy 
atmosphere, by teaching over and over again that with 
which he is quite familiar, by boarding with people who 
are inclined to be social, and by the fatigue and lan- 
guor with which he finds himself oppressed every night, 
is strongly tempted to neglect his own improvement. 
There are but few who rise above this accumulation of 
impediments, and go on in spite of them to eminence in 
the profession. A large proportion of all who teach 
rely upon the attainments with which they commence ; 
and in the course of two or three years, finding them- 
selves behind the age, they abandon the employment. 
This is very natural. Any man who treads in a beaten 
track, like a horse in a mill, must become weary, how- 
ever valuable the product may be which he grinds out. It 
is essential that he should keep his own interest awake by 
some exercise of his ingenuity, and that he should com- 
pel himself to be industrious by undertaking that which 
will absolutely demand study. The above process will 
do this; and while he may have the exquisite pleasure 
of seeing the growth of his pupils' minds, he may also 
have the higher satisfaction oi feeling the growth of his 
own. 

Books not to be Neglected — I must here add that 
it has not been my intention, in what I have said, to 
inculcate the idea that the study of books should in 
the least degree be abated to make room for this pro- 
cess of waking up mind. The various branches are to 
be pursued and as diligently pursued as ever before. 
The time to be set apart for this exercise should be 



112 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

short — never, probably, to exceed five minutes. It is to 
come in when the scholars need rest for a moment, and 
when, if not employed about this, they would probably 
be doing nothing, or perhaps worse than nothing. It 
should be managed with care, and should never be made 
a holhy by teachers, as as if it were of more importance 
than anything else. One secret of success in this — as 
indeed in everything— is that it should not be continued 
too long at once. The pupils should be left " longing — 
not loathing." 

Given Only as a Specimen. — Let me again remind 
the reader that I have given the above as a specimen. 
The choice of the ear of corn was merely accidental ; it 
happened to lie on my table when I wanted a text. The 
teacher should look upon this simply as a specimen, and 
then choose his own subjeats. The main point aimed at 
is this : Never'ask leading questions, which your scholars 
can hardly fail to answer; and never lecture to your 
pupils till you have somehow first kindled in them a liv- 
ing desire to know; that is, avoid alike the "drawing- 
out " and the " pou ring-in " process. Eather let it be 
your object to excite inquiry by a question they cannot 
answer without thought and observation, — and such a 
question as they would deem it disgraceful not to be able 
to answer. This adroitly done is ^^ waking up mind" 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How is it that teachers of good character and broad 
scholarship often fail to be successful ? 

2. a. Is aptness to teach a natural gift ? Give reasons, h. 
How can it be acquired ? 

3. What are the resolts a. of refusing assistance, 6. of giving 
too much assistance to the learner ? 

4. Give two examples of mistaken estimate of the child's 
power of apprehension. 



RIGHT MODES OF TEACHING. 1 13 

5. What is meant by the " pouring-in process " ? Give an 
example. 

6. What are the consequences of teaching that reduces mind 
to a passive recipient ? 

7. What are " leading questions" ? 

8. Describe the " drawing-out process" by an example. 

9. Why should questions requiring a mere yes or no for an 
answer not be used in teaching ? 

10. How far and how shall the teacher assist his pupils in 
the acquisition of knowledge ? 

11. How can the teacher arouse a spirit of inquiry in his 
class ? 

13. What is meant by the ** waking-up-mind " process? 
Give an example. 

13. Why is it a grave mistake to speak disparagingly of the 
opinions o*f parents, even though they may be wrong ? 

14. How can the teacher keep the children constantly in- 
terested ? 

15. a. Distinguish between "pouring in " and " waking up 
mind." h. What are some of the advantages of the latter pro- 
cess over the former ? 

16. How can the teacher enlist the parents' interest in the 
work of their children ? 

17. What is the effect of a right mode of teaching on the 
teacher himself ? 

18. Mr. Page writes: *' Pupils should be left * longing — not 
loathing.' " Explain this. 

19. Give a summary of the leading thoughts of the chapter 
on "drawing-out," ''pouring in," and " waking- up mind" 
processes. 



114 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



CHAPTEH VII. 
CONDUCTING EECITATIONS. 

Difference in Teachers.— In considering a teacher's 
qualifications, the power of exciting an interest in the 
recitations of his school may not be overlooked. No 
man can he successful for any length of time with- 
out this. This comprises what is usually implied by 
APTi^'ESS TO TEACH. All men have not this faculty by 
nature in an equal degree. Some may talk for an hour 
upon an interesting topic in the presence of children 
without commanding their attention ; while there are 
others who can take even a common-place subject and 
secure for any length of time an all-absorbing interest 
in every word. This difference is seen in every grade of 
public speakers, and in all descriptions of writers; but 
perhaps more strikingly than anywhere else it is observ- 
able among teachers. Enter one school and you may 
notice that the scholars are dull and listless; indiffer- 
ence sits undisturbed upon their brows; or perhaps 
they are driven by the activity of their own natures to 
some expedient to interest themselves, while the teacher 
is, with very commendable spirit, laboriously — perhaps 
learnedly — explaining some principle or fact designed 
for their edification. The secret is, he has hot yet 
learned to awaken their attention ; he fails to excite 
their interest. 

An Interested School. — Pass to another school. A 
breathless silence pervades the room; the countenances 



' CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. II5 

of the children, upturned towards the teacher, beam 
with delight. As he kindles into earnestness and elo- 
quence, they kindle into responsive enthusiasm. When- 
ever his eye meets theirs, he sees — he feels the glow 
radiated by the fire he is lighting in their souls, and his 
own gathers new warmth and enthusiasm in return. 
Such a man is apt to teach; and you could scarcely 
break the spell by which he holds his class, " though you 
should give them for playthings, shining fragments 
broken from off the sun." 

The Accomplished Teacher. — He who possesses this 
gift naturally has very great advantage as a teacher to 
begin with. The ability to tell tcell what he knows is 
of more consequence to the teacher than the greatest 
attainments without the power to communicate them. 
Combine high attainments with the ability to tell, and 
you have the accomplished teacher. 

Aptness not Always a Natural Gift.— But this power 
to communicate is not necessarily a natural gift; it comes 
not always by intuition. It can be acquired. It is 
founded in philosophy; and he who can understand any 
thing of the workings of his own mind, who can revert 
to the mental processes he went through in order to 
comprehend a principle, who can go back to that state 
of mind he was in before he comprehended it, and then 
by one step more can put himself in the place of the 
child he is teaching, realizing exactly his perplexities 
and feeling his precise wants, can become the apt teacher. 
Those who fail in this are usually those who have for- 
gotten the steps they took to acquire their own knowl- 
edge, or perhaps who never noticed what steps they did 
take. 

How Acquired. — To acquire this rare qualification 



H6 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

aiiould be the constant study of tlie teacher. To this 
end he should recall, as far as possible, the operations of 
his ov/n mind in childhood. By studying his own mind, 
he learns, often most effectually, what he needs to know 
of others. Whenever he is preparing to teach any 
principle or fact to others, let him ask himself questions 
like the following: What was the dark point in this 
v/hen I studied it ? Where did my mind labor most ? 
What point did my teacher fail to explain ? Such ques- 
tions will frequently suggest the very difficulty which 
perplexes every mind in the same process. Again, the 
following inquiries may be very useful: In studying 
this, what was the first point which appeared clear to 
me ? After this, what was the second step, and how did 
that follow the first ? The next in order ? And the 
next ? Was this the natural order f If not, what is the 
natural order? The right answers to these questions 
will suggest the course to be pursued in the instruction 
of a class. 

Science of Teaching. — The teacher can scarcely ask 
a more important question than this: What is the 
natural order of presenting a given sulject 9 The 
ability to determine this is what constitutes in a great 
degree the science of teaching. This inquiry should 
occupy much thought, because a mistake here is disas- 
trous, and ever will be, as long as Divine wisdom is 
superior to human. He who can ascertain the order of 
ISTature will be most sure of exciting an interest in the 
subject he is endeavoring to teach. 

Some further suggestions as to conducting school reci- 
tations are contained in the following paragraphs:— 

Advantages of Thorough Knowledge. — 1. The 
teacher should thoroughly uiuUr stand what he attempts 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 117 

to teach. It is destructive of all life in the exercise, if 
the teacher is constantly chained down to the text-book. 
I have no objection, indeed, that he should take his 
text-book with him to the class, and that he should oc- 
casionally refer to it to refresh his own memory, or to 
settle a doubt. But who does not know that a teacher 
who is perfectly familiar with what is to be taught has 
ten times the vivacity of one who is obliged to follow 
the very letter of the book ? His own enthusiasm glows 
in his countenance, sparkles in his eye, and leaps from 
his tongue. He watches the halting of the pupil, per- 
ceives his difficulty, devises his expedient for illustrating 
the dark point in some new way, and at the proper 
moment renders just the amount of assistance which 
the pupil needs. Not confined to the text, he has the 
use of his eyes ; and, when he speaks or explains, he can 
accompany his remark with a quickening look of intelli- 
gence. In this way his class is enlivened. They respect 
him for his ready attainment, and they are fired with a 
desire to be his equal. 

Printed Questions. — How different is it with a 
teacher who knows nothing of the subject but what is 
contained in the text before him, and who kuows tlmt 
only as he reads it during the intervals occasioned by 
the hesitations of the class! Every question he proposes 
is printed at the bottom of the page; and as soon as he 
reads the question, without a glance at the pupil, his 
eye sets out on a chase after the answer in the text. If 
the scholar has not already been stupefied by such teach- 
ing, and happens to give an intelligent answer, yet not 
in the precise language of the book, he is set right by 
the teacher's reading the very words — just so much de- 
tached from the sentence as he fancies was intended to 



Il8 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

answer that one question ! In this way he discourages 
thought in his pnpils, and sets a hounty on mechanical 
study. In this way, too, he congeals v/hatever of interest 
they bring with them to the recitation, and they sink 
into indifference; or, following the instincts of their 
nature, they seek occupation in play or mischief, even 
under the sound of his voice ! 

Special Preparation,— 2. The teacher should specially 
prepare himself for each lesson he assigns. This is nat- 
urally suggested by what has just been said. The 
teacher's memory needs to be refreshed. We all know 
how difficult it would be to recite a lesson, in geometry, 
for instance, weeks after studying it. It is so in other 
things. Kow the teacher should be so familiar with the 
lesson which he proposes to hear recited, that he could 
recite it himself as perfectly as he would desire his 
scholars to do it. This is seldom the case. I have 
heard a teacher, with the text-book in his hands, com- 
plain of the dulness or inaccuracy of his classes, when, 
if the tables had been turned and the pupils allowed to 
atk the questions, the teacher would scarcely have re- 
cited as well. And I may add, this is no very uncom- 
mon thing ! If any one is startled at this assertion, let 
him request a friend, in whom he can confide, to ask 
him the questions of a particular lesson in geography, or 
history, or grammar. The teacher should daily study his 
class-lessons. This will enable him the better to assign 
his lessons judiciously. In this daily study he should 
master the text-loolc yx^on i\iQ subject; and, more than 
this, he should consider what collateral matter he can 
bring in to illustrate the lesson. He should draw upon 
the resources of his own mind, — upon the treasures of 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. II9 

his cojnmon-place booJc,^ — upon the contents of some 
encyclopsedia,— upon ani/ vsource from whence he can 
obtain a supply of knowledge for his purpose. This 
will improve his own mind, and he will be encouraged, 
as from time to time he teaches the same branch, to find 
that he is able to do better than ever before, and that, 
instead of becoming weary with repetition, he is more 
and more enthusiastic in the subject. 

Use of the Eye. — Going thus to his class — so full of 
the subject that, were the text-book annihilated, he 
could make another and better one — he will have no 
difficulty to secure attention. As he speaks his eye ac- 
companies his word, and as his pupils answer he sees 
the expression of their countenances; and what a world 
of meaning there is in this expression ! It betrays, bet- 

* It is an excellent plan for every teacher to keep a common- 
place book of considerable size, dillerent portions of it being set 
apart for the different subjects upon which he is to give instruc- 
tion. On the first twenty pages, " Geography" may be the 7iead, 
—the next twenty pages may be set apart for " History,"— twenty 
more may be assigned to "Reading,"— and a like number to 
"Arithmetic," "Grammar," "Spelling," " Writing," etc., re- 
serving quite a space for " Miscellaneous Matter." This would 
make a large book, but when it is remembered that it is to be 
used for several years, it is well to have it large enough to con- 
tain a large amount of matter. Now, whenever the teacher 
hears a lecture on a peculiar method of teaching either of these 
branches, let him note the prominent parts of it under the proper 
head, and especially the illustrations. When he reads or hears an 
anecdote illustrating Geography, History, or Grammar, let it be 
copied under the proper head. If it illustrates Geography, let 
the name of the place stand at its head. When he visits a school, 
and listens to a new explanation or a new process, let him note it 
under its head. In this way he may collect a thousand valuable 
^.hiujss to be used with judgment in his school. 



I20 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

ter than words can do, the clearness or obscurity of the 
mind's perception when a truth is presented. How 
diiferent the beaming of the eye when the soul ajjpre- 
hends, from that almost idiotic stare at vacuity when 
words are used without import! And how necessary it 
is that the teacher should be free to observe the inward 
workings of the soul as indicated upon the countenance! 
Correct Language, — 3. The teacker should be able to 
use our languaye fluently and correctly. In this many 
are deficient. They hesitate and stammer, and after 
all express their ideas in vague terms, and perhaps by 
the use of inaccurate or inelegant language. A teacher 
in no way gives so effectual instruction in grammar as by 
his own use of our language; and there can be no sight 
more mortifying than. that of a teacher laboring to fix in 
the minds of his class some rule of syntax, when his own 
language at the very moment shows an entire disregard 
of the rule. It is very common to hear teachers talk of 
'^ sums" to their classes in arithmetic, and even to ask 
them to do "sums'' in subtraction or division! The 
term "question" is often as improperly applied when 
no question is asked. The teacher should be accurate 
in the use of terms. "Question" is sometimes the 
proper word; sometimes "problem,'' and sometimes 
"exercise," or "example," may with more propriety be 
used ; but " sum " means the amount of several numbers 
when added, and it should not be applied as the name 
of an exercise. Some teachers use the terms ratio and 
proportion ^ interchangeably as if they were synonyms. 

» We are reminded by this of the college student who was ex- 
amined rather closely by his tutor. " What is ratio ?" inquired 
the tutor. *' Ratio? " said the young man, *' ratio is proportion." 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 121 

Such inaccuracies in the teacher will be sure to be re- 
produced in the school, and it is a great evil for the 
scholar to acquire a careless habit in the use of terms. 

Animation. — 4:. He should have proper animation 
himself. Horace Mann describes some of the Scotch 
teachers as working themselves up into a feverish excite- 
ment in the presence of their classes, and the classes in 
turn as literally bounding from the floor when they 
answer their hasty questions. Now, while I think these 
Scotch teachers go quite too far, I do think that many 
of our own teachers come short of a proper standard of 
animation. A teacher should be ready, without being 
rapid; animated, without being boisterous. Children 
are imitative beings; and it is astonishing to observe 
how very soon they catch the manners of the teacher. 
If he is heavy and plodding in his movements, they will 
very soon be dull and drowsy in theirs; then, if he 
speaks in a sprightly tone and moves about with an 
elastic step, they almost realize a resurrection from the 
dead. If he appears absent-minded, taking but little 
interest in the lesson which is recited, they will be as 
inattentive, at least, as he; while, if all his looks and 
actions indicate that the subject is of some importance, 
he will gain their attention. Nor can I refrain in this 
place from suggesting to the teacher the importance of 
regarding his manners while engaged in conducting a 
recitation. His attitude should not be one of indolence 
or coarseness; and when he moves from his seat, and 
appears at the blackboard to illustrate any point, it 

— "Well, what is proportion?" — "Proportion? proportion is 
ratio." — " Well, then," said the tutor, looking perplexed, " what 
are both together ?"— "Excuse me," said the pupil, ''lean de- 
fine but one at a time! " 



122 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

should be done gracefully, and with a constant regard 
to tha fact that every look and every motion teaches. 

The Attention of the Class. — 5. He should never pro^ 
ceed loithout the attention of the class. A loss of interest 
is sure to follow a want of attention. Besides, a habit 
of inattention, while it is very common, is also a great 
calamity to the person who falls into it during life. 
Many a sermon is lost upon a portion of the audience in 
our churches every Sabbath from this cause. When the 
attention is aroused, the impression made is enduring; 
and one idea then communicated is worth a hundred at 
any other time. 

** Books but Helps." — 6. Avoid a formal routine in 
teaching. Children are very apt to imbibe the notion 
that they study in order to recite. They have but little 
idea of any purpose of acquirement beyond recitation; 
hence they study their text-book as mere words. The 
teacher should, as soon as possible, lead them to study 
the subject, using the book simply as an instrtime^it. 
" Books are but helps " — should become their motto. 
In order to bring this about, the instructor would do 
well occasionally to leave entirely the order of the book, 
and question them on the topic they have studied. If 
they are pursuing arithmetic, for instance, and they have 
carefully prepared a definite number of problems, it 
might be well to test their ability by giving them at the 
recitation others of the teacher's own preparing, involv- 
ing an application of what they have learned to the 
business Of life. This will lead them to study intelli- 
gently. Besides, as soon as they begin to see how their 
knowledge is to be useful to them, they have a new mo- 
tive to exertion. They should be so taught as to discover 
that grammar will improve their unders:tanding and use 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 12} 

of language; that writing will prepare them for business, 
and, by enabling them to communicate with their friends, 
will add to their enjoyment; and so of reading and the 
other branches. 

Intelligible Language.— 7. Be careful to use language 
which is intelligible to childi'en whenever an explana- 
tion is givefi. The object of an explanation is to eluci- 
date, to make clearer. How is this object accomplished 
when the explanation is less intelligible than the thing 
explained ? Suppose a child should ask her teacher to 
explain the cause of cold in winter and heat in summer; 
in other words, the cause of the change of seasons. 
" Oh, yes," says he, pleasantly. " The annual revolution 
of the earth round the sun, in connection with the obli- 
quity of the ecliptic, occasions the succession of the four 
seasons." ' The child listens to these '^ words of learned 
length," and is astonished at the learning of her teacher, 
but she has no clearer idea than before of the point she 
inquired about. 

An Example Quoted.— Mr. S. R. Hall, in his lectures, 
giyes the following forcible illustration of the same 
point. " Will you please to tell me why I carry one for 
every ten ?" said little Laura to her instructor. " Yes, 
my dear," said he, kindly. " It is because numbers in- 
crease from right to left in a decimal ratio." Laura 
sat and repeated it to herself two or three times, and 
then looked very sad. The master, as soon as he had 
answered, pursued his other business and did not notice 
her. But she was disappointed. She understood him 
no better than if he had used words of another language. 
"Decimal" and "ratio" were words that might have 

* Worcester's Geography. 



124 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

fallen on her ear before, but if so, she understood them 
none the better for it. She looked in the dictionary and 
was disappointed again, and after some time put away 
her arithmetic. When asked by her teacher why she 
did so, she replied: *I don't like to study it; I can't 
understand it.' " 

" Now the injury to little Laura was very great. She 
had commenced the study with interest; she had learned 
to answer a great many questions in arithmetic, and had 
been pleased. She was now using a slate and writing 
her figures on it, and had found the direction to carry 
one for every ten. This she might have been made to 
understand. The master loved his scholars and wished 
to benefit them, hwt forgot that terms pe7'fectly plain to 
him tuould le unintelligible to the child. From that 
moment Laura disliked arithmetic, and every effort that 
could be used with her could not efface the impres- 
sion that it was a hard study, and she could not under 
stand it." 

Honest Confession,— Not Mystification. — While upon 
this subject, I might urge that teachers should not 
resort to evasion when they are not aile to explain. It 
is a much more honorable and far more satisfactory 
course for the teacher frankly to confess his inability to 
explain, than to indulge in some ridiculous mysticism 
to keep up the show of knowledge. I may never forget 
the passage I first made through the Eule of Three, and 
the manner in which my manifold perplexities respecting 
" direct " and " inverse " proportion were solved. " Sir," 
said I, after puzzling a long time over * more requiring 
more and less requiring less ' — " will you tell me why I 
sometimes multiply the second and third terms together 
and divide by the first, and at other times multiply the 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. 1 25 

first and second and divide by the third ? " " Why, be- 
cause more requires more sometimes, and sometimes it 
requires less — to be sure. Have n't you read the rule, 
my boy ? " — " Yes, sir, I can repeat the rule, but I do n't 
understand it." — " Why, it is because ' more requires 
more and less requires less!'"— "But whyy sir, do I 
multiply as the rule says ? " — " Why, because ' more re- 
quires more and less requires less ' — see, the rule says 
s(i"—*' I know the rule says so, but I wished to under- 
stand why" — " Why ? why f " looking at me as if idiocy 
itself trembled before him — " why ?— why because the 
rule says so; don't you see it f — ^W^More requires 
more and less requires less ! " — and in the midst of this 
inexplicable combination of more and less, I shrank 
away to my seat blindly to follow the rule because it 
said so. Such teaching as this is enough to stultify the 
most inquiring mind; and it is to secure the Messing 
of relief from such influence to the children of any par- 
ticular district that we come to consider an occasional 
change of teachers a mitigated evil. 

Accurate and Prompt Recitation. — 8. Require prompt 
and accurate recitation. I know of nothing than will 
abate the interest of a class sooner than dull and drag, 
ging recitations. The temptation in such cases is very 
strong for the teacher to help the class by the " draw- 
ing-out process," before described. This, however, only 
makes the matter worse. The dull recitation calls for 
the teacher's aid; and his aid reproduces the dull reci- 
tation. The only way is to stop at once, and refuse to 
proceed till the recitation can go alo7ie. It is just as 
easy to have good lessons as poor; and the teacher 
should have the energy to insist upon them. Mark the 
countenances of a class as they go to their seats after a 



126 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

good recitation. They feel that they have done some- 
thing, and they look as if they valued the teacher's ap- 
probation and their own so highly that they will learn 
the next lesson still better. 

It Saves Time. — It is, moreover, a great saving of time 
to have the lessons promptly recited. This saving will 
afford the opportunity to introduce those additional 
illustrations I have before suggested, in order to excite 
a still deeper interest. It may sometimes, though not 
always, be well to make a prompt and perfect recitation 
the condition of introducing the additional matter. 

Simultaneous Recitation. — 9. Rely 7iot too much 
U2J071 simultaneous recitation. This has become quite 
too fashionable of late. It had its origin in the large 
schools established some years since, known as Lancas- 
terian schools, and perhaps was well enough adapted to 
schools kept upon that plan in large cities. But when 
this mode of reciting is adopted in our district and 
country schools, where the circumstances of large num- 
bers and extreme backwardness are wanting, it is entirely 
uncalled for, and, like other city fashions transferred to 
to the country, is really out of place. 

Its Evils. — Seriously, I look upon this as one of the 
prominent faults in many of our schools. It destroys 
all independence in the pupil by taking away his indi- 
viduality. He moves with the phalanx. Learning to 
rely on others, he becomes superficial in his lessons. 
He is tempted to indolence by a knowledge that his 
deficiencies will not stand out by themselves; and he 
comforts himself after a miserable recitation with the 
consoling reflection that he has been able to conceal his 
want of thoroughness from his teacher. 

When Allowable. — It may sometimes be useful. A few 



CONDUCTING RECITATIONS. I27 

questions thus answered may serve to give animation to 
a class when their interest begins to flag; but that which 
may serve as a stimulant must not be relied on for 
nutrition. As an example of its usefulness, I have 
known a rapid reader tamed into due moderation by be- 
ing put in companionship with others of slower speech 
just as we tame a friskful colt by harnessing him into a 
team of grave old horses. But aside from some such- 
definite purpose, I have seen no good come of this inno- 
vation. I am satisfied its prevalence is an evil, and 
worthy of the careful consideration of teachers. 

The Purpose. — By the foregoing means and others 
which will suggest themselves to the thoughtful teacher's 
mind, he can arouse the interest of his classes so that 
study will be more attractivie than play. For this object 
every teacher should labor. It is of course impossible to 
give specific rules to meet every case; it is not desirable 
to do it. The teacher, put upon the track, will easily 
devise his own expedients ; and his own, be it remembered, 
will usually he found the best for him. 

The Teacher Makes His Mark at Recitation As a 

motive for every teacher to study carefully the art of 
teaching well at the recitation, it should be borne in 
mind that then and there he comes before his pupils in 
a peculiar and prominent manner; it is there his mind 
comes specially in contact with theirs, and there that he 
lays in them, for good or for evil, the foundations of their 
mental habits. It is at the recitation, in a peculiar man- 
ner, that he makes his mark upon their minds; and as 
the seal upon the wax, so his mental character upon 
theirs leaves its impress behind ! 



128 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 

A Great Question. — It is ever an interesting question 
to the teacher, and one which he should consider with 
great care " How can I excite an interest among ray 
pupils in their studies ?^' The intelligent teacher feels 
that this is the great question; for he foresees that, if 
he fails here, his difficulty in governing his school will 
be very much increased. He therefore turns his at- 
tention with deep solicitude to the motives he may pre- 
sent, and the methods he may employ to awaken and 
keep alive the interest of the school. 

The Interest in Study an Abiding One. — If he has 
reflected at all upon the subject, he has already arrived 
at the conviction that it is necessary, for the good of all 
concerned, that the interest awakened should be an 
abiding one; that it should not only not abate during 
the term of school, but continue — nay, grow stronger 
and stronger — even after schooldays have passed away. 

A Common Mistake. — There is probably no greater 
mistake in education, than that of raising in school an 
artificial excitement, which may aid, perhaps, in secur- 
ing better recitations, but which will do nothing toward 
putting the mind into such a state that it will press on 
in the pursuit of knowledge ever after the living teacher 
has closed his labors. 

The higher principles of our nature, being aroused 
with difficulty, are too apt to be neglected by the 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. . 129 

teacher, and thus they remain in their original feeble- 
ness; while he contents himself with appealing to our 
lower characteristics, — thus doing a lasting injury by 
unduly cultivating and strengthening them at the 
same time that he awakens after all but a temporary 
interest. 

Emulation, — In view of the importance of the sub- 
ject, and the difficulty of judging aright upon it, I shall 
make no apology for devoting a few pages to the con- 
sideration of 

SECTIOK I. I]N'CENTIVES TO STUDY— EMULATION". 

A Much-debated Question.--The teacher will find 
in a greater or less degree, in the mind of every child, 
the principle of Emulation. It is a question very 
much debated of late. What shall he do loith it f Much 
has been said and written on this question," and the 
ablest minds, both of past ages and the present, have 
given us their conclusions respecting it; and it often 
increases the perplexity of the young teacher to find the 
widest difference of opinion on this subject among men 
upon whom in other things he would confidingly rely 
for guidance. Why, asks he, why is this ? Is there no 
Bucl^ thing as truth in this matter ? or have these men 
misunderstood each other? When they have written 
with so much ability and, so mu.ch earnestness, — some 
zealously recommending emulation as a safe and desir- 
able principle to be encouraged in the young, and others 
as warmly denouncing it as altogether unworthy and 
improper, — have they been thinking of the same thing f 
Thus perplexed with confiicting opinions, he is thrown 
back upon his own reflection for a decision; or, what is 
more common, he endeavors to find the truth by experi- 



130 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

menting upon his pupils. He tries one course for one 
term, and a different one the next; repeats both during 
the third, and still finds himself unsettled as he com- 
mences the fourth. Meantime some of his experiments 
have wrought out a lasting injury upon the minds of 
his pupils. 

Evil Consequences of Experimenting. — If every 
teacher must settle every doubt by new experiments 
upon his classes, the progress that is made in the science, 
and art of teaching must be at the untold expense of 
each new set of children — just as if the young doctor 
could take nothing as settled by the experience of his 
predecessors, but must try over again for himself the 
effect of all the various medical agents, in order to de- 
cide whether arsenic does corrode the stomach and pro- 
duce death, — whether cantharides can be best applied 
inwardly or outwardly, — whether mercury is most salu- 
tary when administered in ounces or gi'ains, or whether 
repletion or abstinence is preferable in a fever ! When 
such is the course of a young practitioner in a commu- 
nity, who does not confidently expect the churchyard 
soon to become the most populous district, and the 
sexton to be the most thrifty personage in the village, 
unless indeed he too should become the subject of ex- 
periment. 

Two Senses. — But is there not a good sense and a bad 
sense associated with the term Emulation; — and have 
not these eager disputants fallen into the same error in 
this matter that the two knights committed, when they 
immolated each other in a contest about the question 
whether a shield was gold or silver, when each had 
seen lut one side of it f I incline to the opinion that 
this is the case, — and that those who wax so warm in 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. ' I3I 

this contest would do well to give us at the outset a 
careful definition of the term Emulation as they in- 
tend to use it. This would perhaps save themselves 
a great deal of toil, and their readers a great deal of 
perplexity. 

The Good Sense.— Now it seems to me the truth on 
this question lies within a nutshell. 

1. If emulation means a desire for improvement , prog- 
'ress, ffroivth, — an ardent v/ish to rise above one^s present 
condition or attainments, — or even an aspiration to at- 
tain to eminence in the school or in the world, it is a 
laudable motive. This is self -emulation. It presses 
the individual on to surpass himself. It compares his 
present condition with what he would be — with what 
he ought to be; and "forgetting those things which are 
behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before^ 
he presses towards the mark for the prize/* An ardor 
kindled by the praiseworthy examples of others, inciting 
to imitate them, or to equal, or even excel them, with- 
out the desire of depressing them,"^ is the sense in 
which the Apostle uses the term (Romans xi. 14) when 
he says : " If by any means I may provoke to emulation 
them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.*' 
If this be the meaning of emulation, it is every way 
a worthy principle to be appealed to in school. This 
principle exists to a greater or less extent in the mind 
of every child, and may very safely be strengthned by 
being called by the teacher into lively exercise; pro- 
vided, always, that the eminence is sought from a desire 
to be useful, and not from a desire of self-glorification. 

The Bad Sense.— 2. But if emulation, on the other 

iDr. Webster, 



1^2 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

hand, means a desire of surpassing others for the sake 
of surpassing them; if it be a disposition that will 
cause an individual to be as well satisfied with the 
highest place, whether he has risen above his fellows by 
his intrinsic well-doing, or they have fallen below him 
by their neglect; if it puts him in such a relation to 
others that their failures will be as gratifying to him as 
his oiun success ; if it be a principle that prompts the 
secret wish in the child that others may miss their 
lessons, in order to give him an opportunity to gain ap- 
plause by a contrast with their abasement, — then, with- 
out doubt, it is an unworthy and unholy principle, and 
should never be encouraged or appealed to by the 
teacher. It has no similitude to that spirit which 
prompts a man to " love his neighbor as himself." It 
has none of that generosity which rejoices in the suc- 
cess of others. Carried out in after-life, it becomes am- 
Mtiony such as fired the breast of a Napoleon, who 
sought a throne for himself, .though he waded through 
the blood of millions to obtain it. 

It is to this principle that the Apostle, before quoted, 
alludes, when he classes emulation with the " works of 
the flesh," which are these: " adultery, fornication, un- 
cleanness, lasciviousness, idolatr}^ witchcraft, hatred, 
variance, EMULATiOiT, wrath, strife, seditions, etc. — of 
the which things, I tell you before, as I have told you 
in times past, that they which do such things shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God." It is of this principle 
that the commentator, Scott, remarks: "This thirst 
for human applause has caused more horrible violations 
of the law of love, and done more to desolate the earth, 
than even the grossest sensuality ever did." 

The Two Views of Emulation Compared. — Thus 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. I33 

emulation is a term wliich indicates a very good or a 
very bad thing, according to the definition we give it. 
In one view of it, the warmest aspirings to rise are con- 
sistent with a generous wish that others may rise also. 
It is even compatible with a heartfelt satisfaction in its 
possessor, at the progress of others, though they should 
outstrip him in his upward course. It is the spirit 
which actuates all true Christians as they wend their 
way heavenward, rejoicing the more as they find the 
way is thronged with those who hope to gain an im- 
mortal crown. 

In the other view of it, we see men actuated by 
selfishness mingled with pride, inquiring, in the spirit 
of those mentioned in Scripture : " Who among us shall 
be the greatest?" We everywhere see men violating, 
these sacred injunctions of Divine wisdom: "Let no 
man seek his own, but every man another's wealth." 
"Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but 
in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than 
themselves." — " In honor preferring one another." 

The Teacher's Duty. — If such be the true pictures 
of emulation, in both the good and the bad sense, cer- 
tainly teachers cannot hesitate a moment as to their 
duty. They may appeal to the principle first described 
— cultivate and strengthen it; and in so doing, they 
may be sure they are doing a good work. But unless 
they intend to violate the teachings of common sense, 
and the higher teachings of Christianity, / hnoiv not 
how they can appeal to the principle of emulation as de- 
fined in the second case. 

Objections. — But it may be urged that the teacher 
will find emulation, even in this latter sense, existing in 



1^4 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

human nature; that he cannot get rid of.it if he will; 
that it will be one of the most active principles to which 
he can resort in arousing the mind to exertion; and, 
furthermore, that it has been appealed to by many of 
the most eminent teachers time out of mind. 

Answers. — To this it is replied, that it is not disputed 
that children are selfish; and that this selfishness may 
indeed be made a powerful instrumentality in urging 
them forward to the attainment of a temporary end. 
But does the existence of selfishness prove that it needs 
cultivation in the human character ? And will the end, 
when attained, justify the means? Is the end, what- 
ever it may be, if attained at such a cost, a blessing to 
be desired ? Will not the heart suffer more than the 
head will gain ? 

Further Objections. — It may be further urged that 
the child will find the world full of this principle when 
he leaves the school; and why, it is asked, should he at 
school be thrown into an unnatural position ? I answer 
that evil is not to be overcome by making evil more 
prevalent; and though there may be too much of self- 
seeking in the world, that is the very reason why the 
teacher should not encourage its growth. The more 
true Christianity prevails in the world, the less there 
will be of that spirit which rejoices at another's halting; 
hence I am convinced the teacher should do nothing to 
make that spirit more prevalent. 

Emulation not Essential to Success. — l^or is it es- 
sential to the progress of the pupil even temporarily, 
since there are other and worthier principles which can 
be as successfully called into action. If we look care- 
fully at the expediency of thus stimulating the mind, 
we findthat after the first trial of strerigth, many be- 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. I35 

come disheartened and fall behind in despair. It will 
soon be obvious, in a class of twenty, who are the few 
that will be likely to surpass all others; and therefore 
all the others, as a matter of course, fall back into envy, 
perhaps into hopeless indifference. Who has not seen 
this in a class in spelling, for instance, where the strife 
was for the "head" of the class, but where all but two 
or three were quite as well satisfied v/itli being at the 
"foot"'^ It does then accomplish the purpose for 
which it is employed; and since those who are aroused 
by it are even more injured than those who are indif- 
ferent, their undesirable qualities being thus strength- 
ened, the opinion is entertained that those teachers are 
the most wise who bend their ingenuity to find some 
other means to awaken the minds of the children under 
their charge. 

The Conclusion. — From what has been said, then, 
Emulation is to be recognized or repudiated among the 
incentives of the school-room, according to the signifi- 
cation we assign to the term. 

SECTIOI^ II. PRIZES. 

Honest Investigation.— It has for a long time been 
the custom of teachers to offer ^oxhq p7'ize as an incen- 
tive to exertion in school; a prize of some pecuniary 
value — a book, or a medal. In some places beneficent 
individuals have bestowed by legacy the means to pur- 
chase annually the prizes thus to be used. Every young 
teacher is called upon, therefore, to inquire whether 
such an incentive is a proper one to be employed in the 
school-room. If there is any good to be expected from 
such an incentive, will it counterbalance the evils that 



I_36 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

spring from the practice ? Will the good of the whole 
school be promoted' by such a measure, — and will this 
be a permanent or a temporary good ? These are ques- 
tions which press for an honest answer; and the faith- 
ful teacher should not shrink from a careful investiga- 
tion of the whole matter; and if he finds good reason to 
diffef from time-honored authority, he should abide by 
the truth rather than by prescriptive usage. 

Result of Experience. — In my own case, I may be 
allowed to say, my mind was early turned to this point; 
though, I confess, with a strong bias in favor of the use 
of prizes. Pretty thoroughly for a series of years did I 
test their efficacy, but with a growing conviction that 
the prize was not the proper instrumentality to create a 
healthy interest in the school. This conviction acquired 
additional strength by three or four years' trial of other 
incentives; and it was fully confirmed afterwards by a 
trial made for the purpose of testing again the efficacy 
of a prize, at an age when I could more carefully watch 
the workings of the human mind, and better appreciate 
the benefits or evils resulting from such a measure. I 
am now free to say that I am satisfied that prizes offered 
to a school in such a way that all may compete for them, 
and only two or three oltain them, luill always he pro- 
ductive of evil consequences, far overbalancing any tem- 
porary or partial good that may arise from them, and 
therefore they ought not to he used as inciteme^its in our 
schools ^ 

^ It may be well to remind the reader that I have used the term 
Prizes here in contradistinction from a system of Rewards, by 
which the teacher proposes to give some token of his regard to 
every one who does well, — aud the more brilliant success of a few 
does not necessarily preclude others from participating in the 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 137 

Reasons Assigned. — Having expressed an opinion so 
decidedly upon a measure which claims among its friends 
and advocates some of the best minds in the country, I 
shall be expected to assign some reasons for the faith I 
entertain. From this I shall not shrink. I proceed 
therefore to express such objections to the use of prizes • 
as have been suggested to my mind by my own experi- 
ence, and confirmed by the experience and observation 
of others in whom I have great confidence. 

Prize Becomes the Leading Motive. — I. The offer of 
a prize gives undue prominence to a comparatively un- 
worthy object. It practically teaches the child to under- 
value the higher reward of a good conscience, and a love 
of learning for its own sake. The dazzling medal is 
placed in the foreground of his field of vision; and it is 
very likely to eclipse those less showy but more abiding 
rewards found in a sense of duty and a desire to be quali- 
fied for usefulness. In studying his lesson he thinks 
of the prize. He studies that he may merely recite 
well ; for it is a good recitation that wins the prize. He 
thinks not of duty, or of future usefulness; the prize 
outshines all other objects. 

Engenders Rivalry. — II. The pursuit of a prize en- 
genders a spirit of rivalry among the pupils. Eivalry 
in pursuit of an object which only one can attain, and 
which all others must lose, must end in exultation on the 
part of the winner, and disappointment and envy on 
the part of the losers. It may be said, this ought not to 
he so; but seldom can it be said, that it is not so. Such 
is human nature, and such it ever will be. Unpleasant 

favor according to their merit. Of sucli a system of Rewards I 
shall have something to say presently. 



13S THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

feelings— sometimes concealed, to be sure — but gener- 
ally expressed in unequivocal terms — grow out of the 
award of almost every school -prize, and sometimes con- 
tinue to exert their baleful influence through life. Now 
as long as human nature brings forth unlovely traits 
almost spontaneously, such direct efforts to cultivate 
them surely are not called for. It is the part of wisdom, 
then, to omit such culture and avoid such results, espe- 
cially when safer means are so accessible. 

The Few Only are Stimulated.~III. The hope of 
gaining the prize stimulates only the few, tvhile the 
majiy become i7idiferent. This is admitted to be true 
even by the advocates of the prize system. Let a prize 
be offered in any class as a reward for the best scholar- 
ship, and in a very few days it becomes perfectly obvi- 
ous to all who the two or three are that will be likely to 
outstrip all the others. These two or three will be stim- 
ulated to exertion; but the strife is left entirely to 
them. All others, despairing of success, resolve at once 
to "let their moderation be known to all men;" and 
since the prize has been made so prominent an object, 
they cannot be expected now to look at anything above 
and beyond it. Feeling that they are not likely to par- 
ticipate in the honors of the class, they have but little 
disposition to share in its toils. 

Exceptions in Spite of the System — This, to be sure, 
is not always so. There are some who, ceasing to strive 
for the prize, toil for the more substantial blessing, — a 
good education, — and in the end come out the best 
scholars. This is the way, indeed, most of our strong 
men are made; for it has long been remarked that the 
prize scholars in our schools, and even in our colleges, 
do not usually become the most distinguished men. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 139 

On the other hand, many of them are never heard of 
after receiving their honors. But, though some of the 
slower scholars do thus hit upon the true path to emi- 
nence, it is not to be set to the credit of the system; 
they rise in spite of the system rather than by virtue of 
it; while the ultimate failure of the prize scholars is 
usually directly attributable to the defect of the system; 
for having been unduly stimulated to study solely with 
reference to recitation, and not with regard to future 
usefulness, their memories have been developed out of 
all proportion to the other faculties of their minds; and 
though they may have been very good reciters, they 
have no power to become independent thinkers. Under 
different training they might have become strong men. 

Prizes Cannot be Approved — But to look no further 
than the school, the remark holds true in general that 
prizes stimulate the feiu, and the many hecome indif- 
ferent not only to prizes, but to other and better 
motives. That system of incentives only can be ap- 
proved which reaches and influences successfully all 
the mind subjected to its operation. 

The Teacher should Reach All. — Nor is this an un- 
important consideration. It is not sufficient praise for 
a teacher that he has 2^ few good scholars in his school. 
Almost any teacher can call out the talent of the active 
scholars and make them brilliant reciters. The highest 
merit, however, lies in reaching all the pnpils, the dull 
as well as the active, and in making the most of them, 
or rather in leading them to make the most of them- 
selves. It should be remembered of every child thai 
the present is his only opportunity of being a child, and 
of receiving the training appropriate to childhood; and 
that teacher who rests satisfied with a system that does 



140 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

not reach the many, while he amuses himself and his 
visitors with the precocity of a few of his most active 
scholars, is recreant to his responsible trust. 

Difficulty in Awarding the Prize. — IV. There is much 
difficulty in awarding the prize so as to do strict justice 
to all. So many things are to be taken into the account 
in order to determine the excellence of a performance 
compared with others, that some particulars are very 
likely to be overlooked. Those Tv^'ho are called to judge 
of the results often disagree among themselves. The 
following anecdote will illustrate this: Three literary 
gentleman were appointed to select the best from several 
compositions, presented by a class, who had written them 
in competition for a gold medal. Each of the gentle- 
men carefully read the whole number in private, and 
conscientiously selected the lest according to his judg- 
ment. When they came together to compare results, it 
was found that each man had selected the best, but that 
no two had selected the same ! They carefully read and 
compared the three, and still each insisted that his 
original choice was the best. After much debate and 
considerable delay, one of the parties being obliged to 
go to his business, relieved himself from a painful de- 
tention, and his friends from a perplexing doubt, by 
saying he believed the composition he had selected loas 
the best, but, as he could not stop to claim its rights, he 
would yield them in favor of the second best in the hands 
of one of his associates. This ended the dispute, and 
the action in favor of the successful one was declared to 
be unanimous ! 

Injustice.— This only proves how difficult it is to 
decide; and in the case just cited, it might well be 
asked, Why should one of these competitors be held up 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY 141 

to the multitude to be applauded and admired, and the 
others sent back to their classes covered with the shame 
of a failure ? What principle of justice sanctioned this 
decision ? 

The Parties Dissatisfied.— Nor is this a solitary in- 
stance. It rarely happens that the case is perfectly 
clear. There is usually much perplexity about it; and 
hence one reason why the decision seldom satisfies the 
friends of the parties either in the school or at home. 
But other considerations besides the intrinsic merits of 
the performance are to be taken into account in award- 
ing a prize; as. 

Various External Aids : Exemplified 1. A dif- 
ference in the external facilities ivhich the competitors 
enjoy for getting the lessons. One pupil may be the son 
of poverty, and be compelled to labor during all the 
hours out of school; another may be in easy circum- 
stances, and have nothing to prevent giving undivided 
attention to study during the whole day. One may be 
the child of parents who have no power to render assist- 
ance by way of explaining a difficult point; while the 
other may have all his doubts removed at once by 
parental aid. One may never even be encouraged by a 
kind word at home; another is constantly urged to 
effort, and perhaps not allowed to be idle. One may 
have access to no books but his school manuals; the 
other may have at his command a large library. This 
difference in circumstances should be taken into the 
account; but it never can be fully understood by those 
who are called to decide. 

Improper Means Used. — 2. The improper means 
which may have been employed to secure the prize. 
Ambition, when aroused, is not always scrupulous of its 



142 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

means. One competitor may be liigh-minded; may 
enter the arena determined to succeed by an honorable 
strife; may resolve to succeed by his own exertions, or 
to fail rather than bring in anything which is not the 
fruit of his own study. Another, regardless of honor or 
principle, resolves only to succeed, whatever it may cost; 
hesitates not to copy from others if possible, or to apply 
to a brother in college or som.e friend in the High 
School to furnish the difficult solution, prepared to 
order. 

An "Authoress.** — One young lady spends days and 
nights in arranging the glowing thoughts for her com- 
position, determined if industry, study, good taste, and 
a careful application of the rules of rhetoric can effect 
anything that her production shall be worthy of a 
prize. Another, in no way distinguished for scholar- 
ship, industry, or honor, writes a careless letter to a 
married sister in a distant city, invoking her aid. In 
due time the mail brings an elegant essay. It is copied 
with sufficient accuracy to be read, and at the examina- 
tion takes the prize! The fair "a?/^Aore55" stands 
forth and is flattered before the multitude — is perhaps 
made to believe that she is ivorthy of praise; she grasps 
the golden bauble, and, covered with the blushes of 
modesty, receives the congratulations and caresses of 
friends, and is afterwards reputed a good scholar. Her 
competitors meantime become convinced that effort can- 
not rival genius ; they are mortified to think they have 
presumed to enter the arena with native talent, and be- 
come disheartened as to any future attempt. 

Abuses. — Now, where is the justice in all this proceed- 
ing ? Yet this is not fiction ; it is history I If such 
abuses — abuses that might well make an angel weep, 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 1 43 

revealing, as they do, that woman's heart can be thus 
sold to deception — are the accompaniments of a prize 
system, may we not well doubt the utility of that sys- 
tem? 

System Unsafe. — Yet who can know either the dif- 
ferent facilities enjoyed by the competitors, or the want 
of principle in some of them ? Who can enter the 
secret chambers of the mind or the heart, and estimate 
with any accuracy the just amount of merit in any 
action ? This is God^s prerogative ; while " man looketh 
only on the outward appearance." My inference then 
is: A system can hardly be safe tuJiich is so micertain. 

Success Overrated. — V. The jyrize rewards success, 
not effort; talent, not v^orth. Every one knows 
that, in estimating the value and virtue of an action, the 
motive which prompted it and the effort it necessarily 
cost should be taken into the account. Every one 
knows, too, that success in study is by no means a cri- 
terion by which to judge of the merits of the scholar. 
Some learn their lessons with great facility and with but 
little effort; others study long and patiently without 
any brilliant results. One competitor for a prize may 
bring results which have cost him midnight toil and the 
most unremitting perseverance; another with brighter 
parts, and with but little labor, is able to surpass him, 
and takes the medal. Now the former deserves in a far 
higher degree the encouragement of the reward ; yet it 
is given to him who has the talent, but who lacks the 
industry. The rule of Scripture which announces that 
"to whom much is given, of him shall much he re- 
quired^* is violated, and he is rewarded for producing 
but little more than the on^ to whom little is given. 

How God Rewards. —It is often urged, by those who 



144 ' THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

advocate a system of prizes and rewards, that God re- 
wards J and^ therefore, it is at least justifiable that we 
should imitate His example. I admit that God, in His 
government, does reward; but He rewards effort rather 
than success j He " looketh upon the heart " as man can- 
not do, and rewards tvorth, not talent. We might, in- 
deed, imitate His example, if we had less frailty, and 
were not so liable to be imposed upon by the outward 
appearance. God indeed rewards men; but He estimates 
the secret intention, seeing the inward springs of thought 
before they find expression in words or actions. He 
regards the motive, and holds out for the encouragement 
of the humblest child of earth, who does the best he 
can, as rich a crown of glory as He does for those whose 
outward circumstances, in the eyes of mortals, are more 
auspicious. When man can as wisely and as righteously 
bestow his prizes and rewards, there will be far less ob- 
jection to their use. 

Studying for a Prize Only.~VI. The pupil luho stud- 
ies for a prize as Ms chief motive will seldom, continue 
to study ivhen the prize is 2uithdraw7i. This is so ob- 
vious as scarcely to need illustration. If it be neces- 
sary to add anything to the mere statement of the fact, 
an appeal to almost universal experience would confirm 
it. A teacher who has depended upon prizes in a 
school finds it very difficult to awaken an interest there 
when he withdraws the prize. Hence many have, on 
trying the experiment of abandoning the prize system, 
become discouraged, and have returned again to the use 
of prizes, believing them essential to their success. Thus 
the very argument which shows most clearly their per- 
nicious tendency is made a neason for continuing them. 
As before hinted, the prize scholars in our academies, 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 1 45 

and even our colleges, are seldom distinguished men in 
after-life — a fact that speaks conclusively on this point ; 
but it can scarcely be necessary to spend words to prove 
a truth almost self-evident. 

<< He is Studying for the Prize."— VII. By the prize 
system^ the influence of the good example of some of the 
lest pupils is lost upon the school. All who have taught 
know how important this influence is to the success of 
the school. Ifc tells with resistless power upon the other 
scholars, wherever it exists, unless some unworthy motive 
can be assigned for it. But, under the prize system, let 
a teacher appeal to the example of his best scholars, and 
the reply is, "Oh, yes, he behaves well, or he studies 
diligently, but he is trying to get the prize" With this 
understanding, his example becomes powerless, unless, 
indeed, there may be a disposition to be unlike him in 
everything. It is believed this is a consideration of 
considerable importance. 

Why a System of Rewards is not Necessary.— I have 
thus assigned, at some length, the reasons why I should 
discountenance, among the incentives of the school, the 
use of Prizes. As to the use of '' Rewards" when they 
are made so numerous that every one who is really de- 
serving may receive one, — and when the basis of their 
distribution is not talent, not success merely, but good 
intention and praiseworthy eifort, — I have much less to 
say. As expressions of the teacher's interest in the 
children, and of his approval of their well-doing, they 
may serve a good end. Perhaps there is no very strong 
objection to them in principle ; though if the teacher 
subjects himself to the necessary outlay in the purchase 
of them, it may become burdensome to him. I may 
add, however, that / do not think rewards are necessary 



146 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

to the teacher's success. I should prefer to do without 
them. It is possible to produce such a feeling in the 
schoolroom that the approving conscience of the child, 
and the commendatory smile of the teacher, shall be the 
richest of all rewards. These come without money and 
without price, and may always be freely and safely 
bestowed, wherever there is a good intention exhibited 
by the child. That is the most healthy state of things 
where these are most prized. As children whose parents 
begin early to hire them to do their duty are seldom 
ready afterwards to render their cheerful service as an 
act of filial obligation whenever the pay is withheld, 
so children at school, who have been accustomed to ex- 
pect a reward, seldom pursue their studies as cheerfully 
when that expectation is cut off. 

SECTIOIT III. PROPER I:N'CENTIVES. 

Safe Incentives. — In what has already been said, it 
has been more than hinted that there are higher attri- 
butes than emulation, which the teacher should address, 
and which, if he is successful in calling them into exer- 
cise, will be quite sufficient to ensure the proper appli- 
cation of his pupils to their studies. They have the 
merit, moreover of being safe. They do not unduly 
stimulate the intellectual at the expense of the moral 
faculties. Their very exercise constitutes a healthy 
growth of the moral nature. Some of these I may 
briefly allude to: 

Approbation of Friends. — I. A desire to gain- the 

APPROBATIOIT OF THEIR PARENTS AND TEACHER. The 

love of approbation is as universal in the human mind 
as emulation. JSTot one in a thousand can be found 
who does not possess it. Within proper limits, it is a 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 1 47 

desirable trait in human character. It is, to be sure, 
one of the selfish propensities; bat, among them all, it 
is the most innocent. Carried to an extreme, it would 
lead its possessor to crave the good opinion of the bad 
as well as of the good, and to become an obsequious 
seeker after popularity. This, of course, is to be depre- 
cated. But there can be no danger of this extreme as 
long as the approbation of pareyits and teachers is the 
object aimed at. It implies in the child a respect for 
the opinions, and a confidence in the justice, of his 
parents and teachers; and hence it implies in him a 
generous desire to please as a condition of being com- 
mended by them. 

<< Twice Blest.*' — In this sense, the love of approba- 
tion may be appealed to by the teacher. He perhaps 
need not frequently use the language of praise. It will 
generally be sufficient if the smile of approval beams 
forth in his countenance. If he is judicious as well as 
just, this boon soon becomes a precious one to the 
child. It is a reward, moreover, wliich 

" is twice blest; 
It blessetli him who gives and him who takes." 

11. A Desire of Advancement. — This is emulation 
in its good sense. It leads the child, as before remarked, 
to compare his present standing and attainments with 
what they should be, and to desire to surpass himself. 
This is ever commendable. Man was made for progress, 
and it is no unworthy aspiration when this desire fires the 
youthful breast. The teacher, then, may appeal to this 
desire, may kindle it into a flame even, with safety — 
because it is a flame that warms without consuming 
that on which it feeds. 



148 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

III. A Desire to be Useful. — The good teacher 
should never fail to impress upon the child that the 
object of his being placed on earth was that he might 
be of some use to the world by which he is surrounded. 
" No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to him- 
self.*' He can be thus useful by storing the mind with 
knowledge and the heart with right affections. He 
may be reminded of the connection between his present 
studies and the pursuits of life to which they may be 
applied. Some judicious hint at the future application 
of any branch is always a good preparation of the mind 
to pursue it. If there is a definite object in view, there 
will always be more alacrity in the labor of study; and 
this may be made to influence the young pupil as well 
as the more advanced. It is no small thing for the 
child if he can be early made to feel that he is living to 
some purpose. 

IV. A Desire to Do Right. — This, in other words, 
is a disposition to obey conscience by conforming to the 
will of God. This, indeed, is the highest and holiest of 
all the motives to human action. In its fullest sense 
it constitutes the fundamental principle of a religious 
character. The teacher should most assiduously cul- 
tivate in the child a regard for this principle. God has 
implanted the conscience in every child of earth, that 
it should early be made use of to regulate the conduct. 
That teacher is either grossly ignorant or madly per- 
verse who disregards the conscience, while he appeals 
alone to the selfishness of the young, and thus practi- 
cally teaches that mojal obligation is a nullity; that the 
law of God— so beautifully expounded by the Saviour — 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 149 

" Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself '' — is of little 
consequence; and that the injunction of the Apostle— 
" Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all 
to the glory of God," is as good as obsolete. 

Conscience Active in Childhood.— In early childhood 
the conscience is most active. It needs, to be sure, at 
that period to be enlightened; but if the teachings of 
Revelation are made plain to the child, he seldom dis- 
regards them. The teacher has at this period very 
much to do, as I have before said in the chapter on 
"Eesponsibility of Teachers"; and he cannot neglect 
his duty without the most aggravated culpability. The 
point I urge here is that he should use these motives as 
incentives . to study. 

Sense of Obligation. — The child can be made to feel 
that he owes the most diligent efforts for improvement 
to his teacher, who daily labors for his improvement; to 
his parents, who have kindly supplied his wants, and 
have provided the means for his cultivation; to society, 
whose privileges he may enjoy, and to which .he is 
bound to make a return by becoming an intelligent and 
useful member of it ; to himself, as a rational and im- 
mortal being, capable of unbounded enjoyment or un- 
told misery, just in proportion as he prepares himself 
for either; and above all to his Creator, by whose 
bounty he lives, surrounded with friends and blessed 
with opportunities, which are denied to millions of his 
fellow^beings^by whose gracious providence he has 
been endowed with faculties and capabilities making him 
but little lower than the angels, and which he is bound 
to cultivate for usefulness and for heaven — by whose 
mercy he has been supplied, as millions have not, with 
the Word of God, to guide his mind to things above. 



150 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and with the influences of Christian society, to cheer 
him in his path to heaven— above all, I repeat, should 
the child be taught to feel that he owes to God his best 
efforts to make the most of all his powers for time and 
eternity. If this can be done (and I believe to a great 
extent it can be done), there will be no need of a resort 
to those questionable incentives found in exciting chil- 
dren to outstrip their fellows by prizes and rewards; 
while in this very process the foundation of a good 
moral training will be laid, without which the perfect 
structure of a noble character can never be reared in 
later life. 

To the motives already alluded to, if it be necessary 
to add another, I would urge— 

V. The Pleasure of Acquisition.-— This is often under- 
rated by teachers. Our Creator has not more univer- 
sally bestowed a natural appetite for the food which is 
necessary for the growth of the body than He has a 
mental longing for the food of the mind; and as He has 
superadded a sensation of pleasure to the necessary act 
of eating, so He has made it a law of the mind to expe- 
rience its highest delight while in the act of receiving 
the mental aliment. Whoever has observed childhood 
with an attentive eye must have been impressed with 
the wisdom of God in this arrangement. How much 
the child acquires within the first three years after its 
birth! He learns a difficult language with more preci- 
sion than a well - educated adult foreigner could learn 
it in the same time; yet language is not his only or his 
chief study. During these same three years he makes 
surprising advances in general knowledge. He seeks an 
intimate acquaintance with all the physical objects by 
which he is surrounded. The size, form, color, weight, 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. I5I 

temperature, and use of each are investigated by the 
test of his own senses, or ascertained by innumerable in- 
quiries. His ideas of height and distance, of light and 
heat, of motion and velocity, of cause and effect, are all 
well defined. He has made no mean attainments in 
morals. He comprehends the law of right and wrong, 
so that his decisions may well put to the blush his supe- 
riors in age; and unless grossly neglected, he has learned 
the duty of obedience to parents and reverence towards 
God. Now all this amazing progress has been made 
because of the irrepressible curiosity with which God 
has endowed him, and the unspeakable delight he expe- 
riences in acquiring the knowledge which gratifies it. 

Mr. Mann Quoted. — All must have noticed the delight 
with which the child grasps a new idea; but few have 
been able so eloquently to describe it as it is done by 
Mr. Mann. " Mark a child," says he, " when a clear, 
well-defined, vivid conception seizes it. The whole ner- 
vous tissue vibrates. Every muscle leaps. Every joint 
plays. The face becomes auroral. The spirit flashes 
through the body like lightning through a cloud." 

The Blind and the Dumb. — " Observe, too, the blind, 
the deaf, and the dumb. So strong is their inborn 
desire for knowledge, such are the amazing attractive 
forces of their minds for it, that although the natural 
inlets, the eye and the ear, are closed, yet they will draw 
it inward through the solid walls and encasements of 
the body. If the eye be curtained with darkness, it will 
enter through the ear. If the ear be closed in silence, 
it will ascend along the nerves of touch. Every new 
idea that enters into the presence of the Sovereign 
Mind carries offerings of delight with it, to make its 
coming welcome. Indeed, our Maker created us in 



152 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

blank ignorance, for the very purpose of giving us the 
boundless, endless pleasure of learning new things." 

This Pleasure Abates in After-life. — It is, of course, 
not to be expected that the same degree of pleasure will 
attend the learner in every acquisition as the novelty 
diminishes, and as he advances in age. The bodily ap- 
petite is less keen in after-life than in childhood, so that 
the adult may never realize again to the full extent the 
delicious flavors which regaled him in his earliest years. 
Still there will ever be a delight in acquisition; and, to 
carry our illustration a little further, as the child is 
soonest cloyed whose stomach is surfeited with dainties, 
and stimulated with condiments, and pampered with 
sweetmeats, till his taste has lost its acumen and diges- 
tion becomes a burden, so the mental appetite is soonest 
destroyed when, under the unskilful teacher, it is over- 
loaded with what it can neither digest nor disgorge. 
The mind may be surfeited; and then no wonder if it 
loathes even the wholesome aliment. Artificial stimu- 
lants, in the shape of prizes, and honors, and flattery, 
and fear and shame, may have impaired its functions, 
so that it ceases to act except under their excitement. 
But all must see that these are unnatural conditions, 
superinduced by erroneous treatment. There is still a 
delight in acquisition, just as soon as the faculties are 
aroused to the effort; and the skilful teacher will strive 
to wake up the mind to find this delight, and if he 
understands his work he will scarcely need a stronger 
incentive. If he understands the secret of giving just 
so much instruction as to excite the learner's curiosity, 
and then to leave him to discover and acquire for him- 
self, he will have no necessity to use any other means as 
stimulants to exertion. 



EXCITING INTEREST IN STUDY. 153 

Instance of God^s Wisdom and Goodness. — To this 
might be added that irrepressible curiosity, that all per- 
vading desire to Jcnoto, which is found in the mind of 
every child. The mind, as if conscious of its high des- 
tiny, instinctively spreads its unfledged wings in pur- 
suit of knowledge. This, with some children, is an all- 
sufficient stimulant to the . most vigorous exertion. To 
this the teacher may safely appeal. Indeed, it is a con- 
vincing proof of the wisdom as well as the goodness of 
God, that this desire to Jcnoiu, as well as the delight of 
acquisitio7i, is the most active at that early period of 
childhood, when a just appreciation of the utility of 
knowledge, and the higher motives already detailed, 
could scarcely find a lodgement in the tender mind. It 
seems to be, therefore, an indisputable dictate of our 
very nature that both these principles should be early 
emploj^ed as incentives. 

A Scholium. — If, then, tJie desire of the approval of 
parents and teachers, — the desire of advancement, — the 
desire to be useful, — and the desire to do right, can be 
superadded to the natural love in the child for acqui- 
sition, and a natural desire to hnoiv, there will, as I be- 
lieve, be but little occasion to look further for incentives 
to exertion in the pupil ; and I may venture to add, as a 
scholium to what has already been said, that the teacher 
who has not yet learned to call into exercise these 
higher motives, and to rely for success mainly upon 
them, and who dares not abandon the system of exciting 
stimulants for fear of a failure, has yet much to learn as 
a true educator of the young. 



154 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

QUESTIONS. 

I. What is meant by instruction ? b) What should be its 
highest purpose ? 

3. Distinguish between temporary and abiding interest. 
Illustrate by examples. 

3. Why is it a mistake to employ artificial stimuli for the 
excitation of interest ? 

4. Has the teacher a right to experiment upon the pupils ? 
Give reasons. 

5. What is meant by emulation ? 

6. Should ambition be encouraged ? Give reasons. 

7. What is your opinion concerning spelling-matches ? Ex- 
plain your position. 

8. Why should prizes not be held out to pupils as incentives 
to exertion ? 

9. Make clear by an example that Mr. Page is right in assert- 
ing that the prize rewards success, not effort ; talent, not 

WORTH. 

10. Mention and show the educational value of five safe in- 
centives to study. 

II. What is meant by the natural interest of children ? 

12, a) What is the educational value of novelty ? 6) Prove 
by an example that novelty in itself cannot keep the interest 
alive. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 55 



CHAPTER IX. 

SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 

Order Necessary in School.— It is not necessary that 
any space in this work should be occupied in speak- 
ing of the importance of order in our schools. Every- 
body who has written or spoken on this subject has 
conceded the necessity of obedience on the part of the 
pupil. "Order is Heaven's first law;" and it is 
scarcely more essential to the harmony of Heaven than 
it is to the happiness and success of the school. 

If such be the necessity of order in the school, then 
the ability to secure and maintain it is no mean part of 
the qualification of the good teacher. It is lamentable 
that so many fail in this particular; and yet this fre- 
quent failure can in most cases be traced to some defect 
in the constitutional temperament, or some deficiency 
in the mental or moral culture of the teacher himself. 
It shall be my first object, then, to point out some of 
the 

SECTIOIT I. requisites IN THE TEACHER FOR GOOD 
GOVERNMENT. 

I. Self-government.— It has frequently been said that 
no man can govern others till he has learned to govern 
himself. I have no doubt of the truth of this. If an 
individual is not perfectly self-possessed, his decisions 
must fail to command respect. The self-government 



156 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

of the teacher should be complete in the following par- 
ticulars : — 

1. As to the Passion of Anger. —The exhibition 
of anger always detracts from the weight of authority. 
A man under its influence is not capable of doing strict 
justice to his pupils. Before entering upon teaching, 
therefore, a man should somehow obtain the mastery 
over his temper, so that under any provocation he can 
control it. He should consider that in school his pa- 
tience will often be severely tried. He should not ex- 
pect, indeed, that the current of affairs in school will 
for a single day run perfectly smooth. He should, 
therefore, prepare for the worst, and firmly resolve that, 
whatever unpleasant thing shall occur, it shall not take 
him entirely by surprise. Such forethought will give 
him self-command. If, however, from his past experi- 
ence, and from the nature of his temperament, he is 
satisfied he cannot exercise this self-control, he may be 
assured he is the wrong man to engage in teaching. A 
man who has not acquired thorough ascendency over his 
own passions is an unsafe man to be intrusted with the 
government of children. 

2. As to Levity and Moroseness of Manner. — Either 
extreme is to be avoided. There are some teachers 
who exhibit such a frivolity in all their intercourse 
with their pupils that they can never command them 
with authority, or gain their cordial respect. This is 
a grievous fault; and the teacher should at once find an 
antidote for it by serious reflection upon the respon- 
sibility of his position. If this will not cure it, nothing 
else can. 

Peevishness.— There are others who are characterized 
by a perpetual peevishness, so that a pleasant word 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 57 

from them is indeed a strange thing. They can never 
expect to gain the affections of their pupils; and with- 
out securing the love of children, the government of 
them will never be of the right kind. This habit of 
snappishness should be broken up at once. 

Ridiculous Assumption of Smartness. — There are 
some very young teachers who sometimes assume one 
or the other of these peculiar modes of address, or per- 
haps both, to be used alternately — fancying that they 
will gain popularity by the one or give themselves 
greater authority by the other. This is a very mistaken 
notion; for children have more discernment than most 
men give them credit for, and they usually see directly 
through such a flimsy disguise; — and the teacher be- 
comes ridiculous, rather than great in their estimation, 
whenever he takes any such false position. 

Mr. Abbot's Case.— Mr. Abbot, in his "Teacher," 
states a fact which well illustrates this point. " Many 
years ago," says he, " when I was a child, the teacher 
of the school where my early studies were performed 
closed his conn-ection with the establishment, and, after 
a short vacation, another was expected. On the ap- 
pointed day the boys began to collect, some from curi- 
osity, at an early hour, and many speculations were 
started as to the character of the new instructor. We 
were standing near a table with our hats on, — and our 
position, and the exact appearance of the group is in- 
delibly fixed on my memory, — when a small and youth- 
ful-looking man entered the room and walked up 
towards us. Supposing him to be some stranger, or, 
rather, not making any supposition at all, we stood 
looking at him as he approached, and were thunder- 
struck at hearing him accost us with a stern voice and 



158 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

sterner brow: 'Take off your hats! Take ofE your 
hats, and go to your seats!' The conviction immedi- 
ately rushed upon our minds that this must be the new 
teacher. The first emotion was that of surprise, and 
the second was that of the ludicrous; though I believe 
we contrived to smother the laugh until we got out into 
the open air." 

The True Rule. — The true rule is to act the part 
which is agreeable to Nature. The teacher having 
gained the self-command just insisted upon, and having 
m him the spirit of kindness and a desire to be useful, 
should assume nothing unnatural for effect. His man- 
ner should be truly dignified, but courteous. 

3. As to His Treatment of those Pupils that are 
Marked by Some Peculiarity.— There will usually be 
some pupils who are very backward and perhaps very 
dull — or who may have some physical defect, or some 
mental eccentricity. The teacher should be able to 
govern himself in all his remarks concerning such pu- 
pils. He should avoid all allusion to such singularities 
before the school ; and it is the height of injustice — I 
was about to say, of malevolence — for him ever to use 
those low and degrading epithets so often found upon 
the teacher's tongue — such as dunce, thickskull, and 
the like. Is it not misfortune enough for a child to be 
backward or dull, without having the pain and mortifi- 
cation increased by the cruelty of an unfeeling teacher? 
The teacher should take a special interest in such chil- 
dren; he should endeavor to enter into the feelings of 
their parents, and to treat them in such a way as to en- 
courage rather than crush them. 

II. A Confidence in His Ability to Govern — We can 
generally do what we firmly believe we can do. At 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 59 

any rate, a man is more likely to succeed in any en- 
terprise when he has the feeling of self-reliance. The 
teacher, by reflection upon the importance of good gov- 
ernment to his success, and by a careful study of the 
means to be employed and the motives to be presented, 
should be able to bring himself to the determination to 
have good order in his school, and so fully to believe he 
can have it, that his pupils shall detect no misgivings 
in him on this point. Whenever they discover that he 
has doubts of his success in governing, they will be far 
more ready to put his skill to the test. It would be 
better that a young teacher should decline to take a 
difficult school rather than enter it without the full 
belief of his ability to succeed. I would not wish to be 
understood by these remarks to be encouraging an un- 
reasonable and Hind ^presumption. A confidence in 
one's ability should be founded upon a reasonable 
estimate of his powers, compared with the difficulties 
to be overcome. What I recommend is that the teacher 
should carefully weigh the difficulties and candidly 
judge of his own resources, and then undertake nothing 
which he thinks is beyond his ability. If, after this, he 
lelieves he can succeed, other things being equal, success 
is almost certain. 

III. Just Views of Government.— 1. It is not tyr- 
anny, exercised to please the one who governs, or to pro- 
mote his own convenience. The despot commands 
for the sake of being obeyed. But government, in its 
proper sense, is an arrangement for the general good — 
for the benefit of the governed as well as of the ruler. 
That is not good government which seeks any other 
object. The teacher should so view the matter; and 
in establishing any regulations in school, he should 



l6o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

always inquire whether they are suggested by a selfish 
regard to his own ease, or whether they spring from a 
sincere and disinterested wish to promote the improve- 
ment of the school. 

2. Uniformity. — He should see the necessity of mak- 
ing the government uniform; that is, the same from 
day to day. If he punishes to-day what he tolerates 
to-morrow, he cannot expect the cordial respect of his 
pupils. Some teachers, not having learned the art of 
self-government, take counsel too much of their own 
feelings. To-day they are in good health and spirits, 
and their faces are clothed in sunshine; they can smile 
at anything. To-morrow, suffering under bad diges- 
tion, or the want of exercise, or the want of sleep, the 
thunder-storm hovers about their brow, ready to burst 
upon the first offender. Woe to the luckless wdght who 
does not seasonably discover this change in the con- 
dition of the weather! A teacher cannot long respect 
himself who is thus capricious; he may be sure his 
school will not long respect him. 

3. No Aristocracy in School. — He should so view 
government as to make it equal; that is, equal in its 
application to the whole school — the large as well as 
small scholars, the males as well as females. This is 
often a great fault with teachers. They raise up a sort 
of aristocracy in their schools — a privileged class, a 
miniature nobility. They will insist that the little boys 
and girls shall abstain from certain practices, — whisper- 
ing, for instance, — and most promptly punish the of- 
fenders, while they tolerate the samxe thing among the 
larger pupils. This is cowardly in itself, and as im- 
politic as it is cowardly. The teacher makes a great 
mistake who begins his government with the small chil- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. l6l 

dren, in the hope of frightening the larger ones into 
obedience. He should have the manliness and the 
justice to begin with the larger pupils; the smaller ones 
never resist when authority is established with those 
above them. Besides this, the very class who are thus 
indulged are the very ones who soonest despise, and 
justly, too, the authority of the teacher. 

No Partiality. — He should make his government im- 
partial in every respect. He should have no favorites 
— no preferences, based upon the outward circumstances 
of the child, his family, or his personal attractions, and 
the like. The rich and the poor should be ah'ke to the 
teacher. He should remember that each child has a 
soul ; and it is with the soul, and not with the wealth 
of this world, that he has to do. He should remember 
that a gem as bright as a sunbeam is often concealed 
under a rough exterior. It should be his work — nay, his 
delight — to bring out this gem from its hiding-place, 
and apply to it the polish of a " workman that needeth 
not to be ashamed." 

IV. Just Views of the Governed. — Notwithstanding 
the imperfection of human nature as developed in the 
young, they have some redeeming qualities. They are 
intelligent and reasonable beings. They have more or 
less love of approbation; they have affection, and, above 
all, they have a moral sense. All these qualities are 
considerably developed before they enter the school. 
The teacher should remember this, and prepare himself 
to address, as far as may be, all these. Love of appro- 
bation, as we have before seen, is not an unworthy 
motive to be addressed; and it is well known that many 
children are very easily controlled by it. It is not the 
highest motive, to be sure; nor is it the lowest. The 



l62 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

affection for a teacher, which many children will ex- 
ercise is one of the most powerful instrumentalities 
in governing them with ease. The conscieiice, early 
trained, is all-powerful. I allude to these principles of 
action once more, in order to say that the peculiar char- 
acter of each should be well studied by the teacher. 
He should understand the human mind so well as to be 
able to find the avenues to these better parts of the 
child's nature, remembering that, whenever several ways 
lire presented of doing the same thing, it is always wise 
to choose the best. 

V. Decision and Firmness. — By decision I mean a 
readiness to determine and to act, in any event, just as 
duty seems to dictate; a willingness to take the respon- 
sibility just as soon as the way is plain. 'By firmness is 
meant thsbt fixedness of purpose which resolutely carries 
out a righteous decision. Both of these qualities are 
essential to good government in the teacher. Much 
time is often lost by a teacher's vacillating when action 
is more important. Besides, if the pupils discover that 
the teacher hesitates, and dreads to take any respon- 
sibility, they very soon lose their respect for him. I 
would not urge that a teacher should act hastily. He 
never should decide till he is confident he decides right; 
any delay is better than hasty error. But his delay, in 
all matters of government, should have reference to a 
true knowledge of his duty, when that is clearly known, 
he should be decided. 

The Unjust Judge. — Many teachers suffer in their 
government for want of firmness. They act upon the 
principle of personal convenience, as did the unjust 
judge mentioned in the parable: "And he would not 
for a while; but afterwards he said within himself. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 63 

though I fear not God nor regard man, yet because this 
widow trouhletli 7ne, I will arise and avenge her, lest by 
her contifiual coming she weary me." 

A Practical Example.— How often we hear some- 
thing like this in the school-room: "May I go and 
drink ? " says James, in a peculiarly imploring tone. 
" No," says the teacher, promptly, and evidently with- 
out any reflection as to the decision he has made. 
James very composedly sits down, eyeing the coun- 
tenance of the teacher expressively, as much as to say: 
•' ril try you again soon." Before long he observes the 
teacher quite busy with a class, and he again pops the 
question: "May I go and drink?" Stung at the 
moment with impatience at the interruption, the 
teacher answers, instantly and emphatically : " No, no, 
James, sit down!" James still watches his teacher's 
expression, and cannot discover there any signs of a 
mind seeking the path of duty, and ho silently thinks 
to himself, "the third time never fails." So, after a 
minute or two, when the teacher is somewhat puzzled 
with a knotty question, and is on the point of nibbing 
a pen besides, — " May I go and drink, sir f " again 
rings upon the teacher's ear. "Yes, yes, yes! do go 
along; / suppose you 'II heep asking till yoti get it" 

Philosophizing and Conclusion. — Now James goes 
to drink, and then returns to philosophize upon this 
matter, perhaps as follows: "I do n't believe he stopped 
to think whether I needed drink or not; therefore, here- 
after I shall never believe he really means no when he 
says it. He acts without thought. I have also found 
that, if I will but ask several times, I shall get it. So I 
shall know how to proceed next time." I do not know 
that any child would express this thought in so many 



1 64 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

words; but tlie impression upon his mind is none the 
less distinct. 

A Better Way. — ISTow the teacher should carefully 
consider the question addressed to him. How long 
since this child had water ? Can it be necessary for 
him to drink so often ? Then let the answer be given, 
mildly but decidedly: "No, James." The very man- 
ner, quite likely, will settle the question, so that James 
will not ask again. The answer once given should be 
firmly adhered to. It would even be better that James 
should suffer for the want of water than for the want 
of confidence in his teacher's firmness. In this way the 
teacher would establish his word . with the school in a 
very few days; and his pupils would soon learn that 
with him "no means no,'' and "yes means yes" — a 
matter of no small importance to the teacher of a 
school ! 

VI. Deep Moral Principle — The teacher should ever 
be a conscientious man, and in nothing is this more 
necessary than in the exercise of good government. In 
this matter the teacher can never respect himself when 
he acts from caprice or selfishness. His inquiry should 
be. What is right ? What is justice — justice to my 
pupils— to myself ? And if he could add to moral obli- 
gation, the high sanctions of religious principle, and 
could habitually and sincerely turn his thoughts to his 
Maker, with the heartfelt inquiry — What wilt thou 
have me to do ? — then he would seldom err in the dis- 
charge of this trust. His pupils, seeing that he acted 
from fixed and deep principle, would respect his hon- 
esty, even if he should cross their desires. 

Having now dwelt at some length upon the requisites 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 65 

in tlie teacher for good government ^ I shall next proceed 
to present some of the 

SECTION II. MEANS OF SECURING GOOD ORDER. 

I. Be Careful as to the First Impression You 
Make, — It is an old proverb, that " what is well begun 
is half done.*' This holds true in school-keeping, and 
particularly in school-government. The young study 
character very speedily and very accurately. Perhaps 
no one pupil could express in words an exact estimate 
of a teacher's character after a week's acquaintance; but 
yet the whole school has received an impression which is 
not far from the truth. A teacher, then, is very unwise 
who attempts to assume to be any thing which he is not. 
He should ever be frank, and in commencing a school 
he should begin as he can hold out. Any assumption 
of an authoritative tone is especially ill-judged. The 
pupils at once put themselves in an attitude of resistance 
when this is perceived by them. 

Respect Precedes Attachment.— A teacher should 
ever remember that among children— however it may be 
among adults — respect always precedes attachment. If 
he would gain the love of the children, he must first be 
worthy of their respect. He should therefore act delib- 
erately, and always conscientiously. He should be firm 
but never petulant. It is very important at the outset 
that he should be truly courteous and affable. It is much 
wiser to request than to command, at least until the 
request has been disregarded. 

The Rough and the Gentle Way.— There are usually 
two ways of doing a thing — a gentle and a rough way. 
"John, go and shut that door,'' in a gruff tone, is one 
way to have a door closed. John will undoubtedly go 



l66 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and slmt the door, — perhaps Avith a slam, — but he will 
not thank the teacher for the rough tones used in com- 
manding it. Nov/ it costs no more time or breath to 
say, " John, 111 thank you if you will shut that door." 
Most cheerfully will John comply with the request, and 
he is grateful that he has heard these tones of kindness. 
If he could but know the teacher's wishes afterward, he 
would gladly perform them unasked. I would by no 
means recommend the adoption of the fawning tone of 
the sycophant by the teacher. He should be manly and 
dignified; but the language of that courtesy which 
springs from real kindness, and which ever becomes (he 
gentleman, is always the most suitable as well as most 
expedient for him. 

II. Avoid Exhibiting or Entertaining a Suspicious 
Spirit. — It is a maxim of law, that one charged with 
crime is always to be presumed innocent until proved 
guilty. This should be a maxim with the teacher who 
would govern well. There is no more direct way of 
making a school vicious than by showing them that you 
suspect they are so. A good reputation is dear to all; 
and even a bad boy will be restrained from wicked acts 
as long as he thinks you give him credit for good inten- 
tions. But if he finds that he has lost your good opinion, 
he feels that he has nothing further to lose by being as 
bad as you suspect him to be. A teacher is wise, there- 
fore, if he tries to see something good even in a vicious 
pupil. It may be, as it often has been, the means of 
saving such a pupil. 

A Bad Boy Saved by a Token of Confidence — I have 
known a very depraved boy entirely reformed in school, 
by his teacher's letting him know that he had noticed 
SQme good traits in his character. He afterwards told 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 67 

his teacher that " he had been so often suspected to be a 
villain that he had almost come to the conclusion that he 
would be one; but that, when he found one man who 
could do him the justice to give him credit for a few good 
feelings — (for he knew he had them) — he at once deter- 
mined to show that man that his confidence had not been 
misplaced, and that he would sooner die than knowingly 
offend the only person who ever had understood him." 

It is wise sometimes not only to withhold the expression 
of suspicion, but to give some token of your confidence 
to the pupil who is troublesome. Intrust him with some 
errand involving responsibility, or assign to him some 
duty by way of assistance to yourself, and very likely 
you will gain his good-will ever after. This is founded 
upon the well-known principle in human nature, acted 
upon by Dr. Franklin, who, when he would gain his 
enemy, asked him to do him a favor. 

III. As Soon as Possible Give Regular and Full 
Employment. — It is an old proverb that " idleness is 
the mother of mischief." The nursery hymn also con- 
tains a living truth — 

*' And Satan finds some mischief still 
For idle hands to do." 

It is the law of a child's nature to be active; and as the 
teacher is placed in the school to give direction to such 
minds, he can hardly complain of their going upon for- 
bidden objects unless he seasonably provides something 
better for them to do. 

The Teacher May Enforce Employment. — Very 
early, then, the teacher should endeavor to classify his 
school and furnish constant and full employment — either 
of study, recitation, or relaxation — for every hour in the 



1 68 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

day. The teacher should have a plan when he opens 
the school, and the sooner it is carried into full operation 
the better. ^ Besides, when a teacher has given employ- 
ment, he has a right to insist upon the pupiFs being 
engaged in study. Nobody will question this right; 
and it is far more profitable to require a positive duty 
than to enjoin a negative, — such as abstinence from 
whispering or from mischief in general. 

IV. Make but Few Rules.— It is a very common thing 
for teachers to embarrass themselves by a long code of 
requirements and prohibitions. Some go so far as to 
write out a system of laws, and, annexing to each the 
penalty for its infringement, post them up in a conspic- 
uous place in the schoolroom. Others content them- 
selves with a verbal announcement of them, and rely 
upon the memories of the pupils to retain the details of 
them and to govern themselves accordingly. This, it 
seems to me, is a great mistake. The multiplicity of 
specific rules for the government of a school will 
naturally lead to a multiplicity of offences. Children 
will be confused by the varying and sometimes conflict- 
ing demands of a formidable code of regulations, and in 
endeavoring to avoid Scylla will be likely to fall into 
Chary bd is. 

The World has been Governed too Much.— It is be- 
lieved by some honest statesmen that " the world has 
been governed too much;" and it is often alleged in 
support of this belief that successful compliance with 
the laws requires far more wisdom than was displayed 
in making them; that is, the science of oledience is far 
more abstruse than the science of legislation I Whether 

1 See Chap. X. of this work. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 69 

this be true in the civil world or not, I shall not attempt 
to decide; I will only say that such has too often been 
the fact in the schoolroom. 

Do Right.— It is in my opinion the part of wisdom, 
and I think also the teaching of experience, that it is 
best to make but few rules. The great rule of duty, 
quoted once before, " Do unto others as you would that 
they should do to you,'' comprises quite enough to begin 
with. The direction — Do right, is a very comprehen- 
sive one. There is in children an ability to distinguish 
between right and wrong, upon which the teacher may 
ever rely; and by insisting upon this as the standard, he 
daily brings into exercise the conscience of the chiLi, 
who is called upon to decide, is this right? Besides, if 
a school is to be governed by a code of laws, the pupils 
will act upon the principle that ivhatever is not "pro- 
scribed is admissible. Consequently, without inquiring 
whether an act is right, their only inquiry will be, is it 
forbidden f Now no teacher was ever yet so wise as to 
make laws for every case; the consequence is, he is daily 
perplexed with unforeseen troubles, or with some ingen- 
ious evasions of his inflexible code. In all this matter 
the worst feature is the fact that the child judges of his 
acts by the laio of the teacher rather than by the law of 
his conscience i and is thus in danger of perverting and 
blunting the moral sense. 

Embarrassment in Executing Laws. — To this it may 
be added that the teacher will often find himself very 
much perplexed in attempting to judge the acts of his 
pupils by fixed laws, and in awarding to all violations of 
them a prescribed penalty. Cases will frequently occur 
in which two scholars will offend against a given pro- 
hibition, with altogether different intentions — the one 



170 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

having a good motive and forgetting the law; the other, 
with the law in his mind and having a wicked design to 
violate it. Now the written code, with its prescribed pen- 
alty, allows the teacher no discretion. He must maintain 
his law and punish both offenders, and thus violate his 
own sense of justice; or he must pass both by, and thus 
violate his word. He cannot excuse the one and punish 
the other, as justice would evidently demand, without 
setting at naught his own laws. 

A Dilemma. — An example will illustrate this point. 
A teacher has made a rule that " any child who whispers 
without leave shall hQ feruled." Now two little boys sit 
side by side. William is an amiable, obedient, and dili- 
gent little boy, who has never violated intentionally any 
wish of his teacher; while Charles is a sour-tempered, 
vicious, unprincipled fellow, who a dozen times within 
a week has sought to make his teacher trouble. Little 
John, who sits near to William, drops his pencil, and it 
falls under William's desk. John looks for his pencil 
.on the right and left of his seat, grows anxious and per- 
plexed. William has noticed him, and he carefully 
picks up the pencil, while he perhaps is looking for it in 
another direction, and, with the kind intention of re- 
lieving his neighbor's anxiety and restoring his property, 
he touches his elbow and softly whispers, " Here is your 
pencil, John,'' — then immediately resumes his own 
studies, and is probably entirely unconscious that he has 
violated any law. At the same instant the artful 
Charles, half concealing his face with his hand, with his 
wary eye turned to the teacher, wilfully addresses another 
pupil on some point in no way connected with study or 
duty. The teacher sees both these cases, and calls the 
offenders to his desk. The one trembles, and wonders 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I71 

what he has aone amiss, while the other perhaps prepares 
himself to deny his offence, and thus to add falsehood to 
his other sins. The rule av»^ards to both the ferule. It 
is applied to Charles with energy, and with the convic- 
tion that he deserves it; but I ask, can a man with any 
sense of justice raise his hand to punish William ? If 
so, I see not how he can ever again hold converse with 
his own conscience. Yet the rule allows him no discre- 
tion. He must violate either the rule or his conscience; 
and too often in such cases he chooses the latter alterna- 
tive. 

Hint for Young Teachers.— Now my advice is, make 
lutfew rules, and never multii3ly them till circumstances 
demand it. The rule of right will usually be sufficient 
without any special legislation ; and it has this advantage, 
that it leaves the teacher the largest discretion. 

I have been thus full on this point because so many 
fail here, and especially young teachers. It has cost 
many a young teacher much bitter experience to make 
this discovery for himself, and I have desired to save 
others who may hereafter engage in teaching the pain 
and perplexity which they may so easily and so safely 
avoid. 

Threatening. — For similar reasons, I should alseurge 
that the teacher should avoid the too common practice 
of threatening in his school. Threatening is usually re- 
sorted to as. a means of frightening children into their 
duty,— and, too often, threats are made without any 
expectation of a speedy necessity either to execute or 
disregard them. The consequence is, they are usualty 
more extravagant than the reality, and the teacher's word 
soon passes at a discount; his threats are viewed as very 
much like the barking of a dog who has no intention to 



172 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

bite. As threatening is moreover the language of im- 
patience, it almost always leads to a loss of respect. 

V. Wake Up Mind in the School, and in the Dis- 
trict. — There is usually but very little trouble in gov- 
ernment where the scholars are deeply engaged in their 
studies or school exercises, and especially if at the same 
time the feelings of the parents are enlisted. To this 
end I would recommend that early attention should be 
given to some efforts to ivalce up mind, such as have been 
described in a former section of this work. It will be 
found, when skilfully conducted, one of the most suc- 
cessful instrumentalities in aid of good order and good 
feeling in the school. 

Varieties in School. — An ingenious teacher, too, may 
introduce other varieties into the school exercises, and 
thus sometimes turn the attention of discontented pu- 
pils from some evil design to give him trouble. So long 
as the teacher keeps steadily the main object of his 
school in view, namely, progress in the studies, he is 
excusable if occasionally, to break up monotony and 
excite a deeper interest, he introduces a well-considered 
new plan of study or of recitation. Indeed, much of 
his success will depend upon his power to do this, and 
in nothing will its advantages appear more obviously 
than in the government of the school. A great portion 
of the disorder and insubordination in our schools has 
its origin in a want of interest in the school exercises. 
He is the successful teacher, and the successful disci- 
plinarian, who can excite and maintain the necessary 
interest. 

Vocal Music. — As one of these varieties, I may mention 
the exercise of vocal music in school. I have already 
alluded to it. As a means of keeping alive the interest 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 73 

in a school, it is very important. Music is the language 
of the heart, and though capable of being grossly per- 
verted (and what gift of Grod is not ?) — its natural ten- 
dency is to elevate the affections, to soothe the passions, 
and to refine the taste. 

German Proverb. — " The Germans have a proverb," 
says Bishop Potter, " which has come down from the 
days of Luther, that where music is not, the devil en- 
ters. As David took his harp when he would cause the 
evil spirit to depart from Saul, so the Germans employ 
it to expel the obduracy from the hearts of the de- 
praved. In their schools for the reformation of juvenile 
offenders (and the same remark might be applied to 
those of our own country), music has been found one of 
the most effectual means of inducing docility among 
the stubborn and vicious. It would seem that so long 
as any remains of humanity linger in the heart, it re- 
tains its susceptibility to music. And as proof that 
music is more powerful for good than for evil, is it not 
worthy of profound consideration that, in all the inti- 
mations which the Bible gives us of a future world, 
music is associated only with the employments and 
happiness of Heaven ? " 

Music Easily Introduced in Schools.— Almost any 
teacher can introduce music into his school; because if 
he cannot sing, he will always find that it will only 
require a little encouragement to induce the scholars to 
undertake to conduct it themselves. It will consume 
but very little time, and it is always that time which, 
if not employed in singing, would otherwise be un- 
employed or misemployed. It is the united testimony 
of all who have judiciously introduced singing into 
their schools, that it is among the best instrumen- 



174 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

talities for the promotion of good feeling and good 
order. 

VI. Visit the Parents of Your Scholars.— I shall 
more particularly enjoin this when I speak of the 
teacher's relation to his patrons [chap, xi.]; but I 
cannot forbear in this place to nrge it upon the teacher 
as one of the means of securing good order in school. 
A great deal of the insubordination in our schools 
arises from some misunderstanding, or some dislike 
entertained by the parent towards the teacher, and 
spoken of in presence of the children. AVhatever the 
pupils hear at home, they will be likely to exemplify 
in school. It should be the teacher's first object to 
become acquainted with the parent, and to let him un- 
derstand, by a personal interview, all his plans and 
aims for the improvement of the school. This can be 
done best at the parent's own fireside. It has often 
happened that, by a friendly visit of an hour by the 
teacher, the parent's heart has been softened, his 
prejudices removed, his co-operation gained, and the 
cheerful and cordial obedience of his children in school 
secured. 

Making Friends for the School. — These visits 
should, of course, be made in the true spirit of the 
teacher. They should be made in the honest desire of 
his heart to render his labors more successfuL A visit 
made in such a spirit seldom fails to make the parents 
personal friends ever after; and of course, in case of a 
collision afterwards between him and their children, 
this is a very important point. 

VII. Registers of Credits.— Eegisters of the stand- 
ing of pupils in their schools and their classes are 
very highly recommended by some whose experience 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I73 

is entitled to confidence. I am inclined to place this 
among the means of securing good order. I would 
recommend, however, that they should be registers of 
credits only. Some recommend the use of " Hack- 
marks ; " that is, the record of prominent faults and 
perhaps of punishments. My own experience teaches 
me that this is unwise. The teacher should not show a 
willingness to record and publish the faults of a pupil. 
He should, on the contrary, show a tender regard for 
his reputation. Besides, the child is less likely to be 
mindful of his duty when his reputation is already 
hlackened by his teacher. If registers are to be kept 
at all, they should record the successes and virtues of 
the child rather than his failures and faults. And if, at 
the end of a week or a month, he is furnished with an 
abstract for the inspection of his parents, let it be so 
much of good character as he has earned for himself 
during the specified time. 

I confess I am less sanguine than many others as to 
the utility of the register, either as an incentive to obe- 
dience or diligence ; but if used at all, I think the above 
restriction is highly important. 

VIII. Avoid Governing too Much.— By this I would 
be understood to urge upon the teacher the fact that 
his main business in school is instruction and not gov- 
ernment. Government is a means, and not the end, of 
school-keeping. A very judicious and practical teacher 
— Mr. R. S. Howard — has well remarked: "The real 
object to be accomplished, the real end to be obtained 
in school, is to assist the pupil in acquiring knowledge 
— to educate the mind and heart. To effect this, good 
order is very necessary. But when order is made to 
take the place of industry, and discipline the place of 



176 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

instruction, where the time of both teacher and pupila 
is mostly spent in watching each other, very little good, 
will be accomplished." 

Governmant not the Chief Business of the Teacher.— 
It is a mistake that many teachers fall into, that they 
seem to regard government as their chief occupation ; 
and, as we should naturally expect in such cases, it is 
often very poorly exercised. That is not the best gov- 
ernment which is maintained as a matter of formal 
business. The noiseless under-current is far more 
efficient. I have always noticed that men govern best 
luheyi they do not seem to govern ; and those who make 
most effort and bustle about it themselves are pretty 
sure to have the most boisterous schools. 

" Order, There 1 '* — I once in company with a friend 
officially visited a school where the teacher, a man of 
strong frame— six feet high, and with lungs in propor- 
tion, was laboring to keep order. Every word he ut- 
tered was in a stentorian voice, which would have been 
painful to the pupils in a quiet room ; hence, they took 
care to keep up a constant clattering of books, slates, 
and rulers, mingled with the constant hum of their own 
voices, as if for self-defence. It seemed to be a mighty 
effort of each party to rise if possible above the noise of 
the other. "Silence! Order! I say," was constantly 
ejaculated in a voice that was almost sufficient, as Shak- 
speare's Hamlet would say, to "split the ears of the 
groundlings." 

Parsing.— One of the most ludicrous scenes I ever 
witnessed occurred in this school during an exercise in 
English grammar. The class occupied the back seats, 
while the teacher stood by the desk in front of the 
school. The children between the teacher and his 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT, 177 

class were variously employed, — some manufacturing 
paper fly-boxes, some whittling the benches — (it was in 
New England) ; some were trying their skill at a spit- 
ball warfare; others were making voyages of exploration 
beneath the seats. The school, consisting of some 
seventy pupils, were as busy as the occupants of an ant- 
hill. The sentence to be parsed was, "'A good boy 
loves study." No written description can present the 
scene as it was acted in real life. 

<< The Rule, Sir ! ** — It should be borne in mind that 
every word spoken by the teacher, whether to the class 
or to the school, was in a tone of voice which might 
have been heard at least an eighth of a mile, and that 
every exclamation was accompanied by several ener- 
getic thum.ps of a large oaken * rule ' upon the lid of his 
desk. The language of the teacher is in italics. " Maryf 
parse A." "A is an indefinite" — "Silence! Order y 
there ! " — " article, and is prefixed to " — " Joh7i ! " — 
'* No, sir, it is prefixed to " — " Martha, Martha I sit up " 
—"it is prefixed to— hoy.''— " Eight."— " Good, next.'' 
— " Good is an adjective," — " Order, Order, Order I " — 
— thump, thump, thump ! — " Go on, go on, I hear you ! " 
— thump, thump ! — " and belongs to " — " Speak louder ! 
Sit up there! What are you doing f^ And helongs 
to 9 '^— « boy."—" The Rule. The Rule ! / say.''— 
Here several children looked earnestly at the piece of 
timber he held in his hand. — '' The Ride, sir, tlie Rule I '* 
— thump, thump ! — " YouVe got it in your hand," vo- 
ciferated a libiie harmless-looking fellow on the front 
seat, while the scholar proceeded to recite the rule. — 
" Adjectives belong to " — " Lazy, lazy fellow I sit up, 
there." — Here the class smiled, and the scholar com- 
pleted his rule, asserting however that " adjectives be- 



178 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

long to nouns," and not to " lazy felloius" as the class 
seemed to understand the master to teach. Word after 
word was parsed in this way (a way of teaching our lan-^ 
guage which, if we could know it had been practised at 
the erection of Babel, would sufficiently account for that 
memorable confusion of tongues without the interven- 
tion of a miracle), till the teacher, nearly exhausted by 
this strange combination of mental, oral, and manual 
labor i very much to the relief of all, vociferated " That HI 
do!" and the scene was changed. 

A << Hard School."— At the close of the afternoon, we 
were told that " it was a very hard school, that it was 
impossible to keep order, and that he sJiould be discour- 
aged were it not that he saw a manifest improvement 
within a few days past!" 

Who Made it ? — Now this teacher made the school 
what it was by his own manner. He would have done 
the same in any school. He taught in the most effect- 
ual way the science and art of confusion; and notwith- 
standing the hard name he gave his school, he was em- 
pliatically the most disorderly and noisy member of it. 

A New Teacher. — There was a change. On another 
day, accompanied by the same friend, we presented our 
selves at the door of this same room for admittance. 
We heard no sound as we approached the entrance, and 
almost be.£:an to suspect we should find there was no 
school within. We knocked; and presently, without 
our hearing the footstep of the person who approached, 
the door opened, and we passed in. The children 
looked up a moment as we entered, and then bent their 
eyes upon their lessons. The teacher softly handed us 
seats, and then proceeded with the recitation. His 
manner was quiet and deliberate, and the school was 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 79 

orderly and busy. He had no rule in his hand, no 
heavy boots on his feet (he had exchanged them for 
slippers on entering the school), and no other means of 
giving emphasis to his words. He kindly requested, — 
never commanded, — and everything seemed to present 
the strongest contrast with the former scene. The hour 
of dismission arrived, and the scholars quietly laid by 
their books, and as quietly walked out of the house, and 
all was still. 

Good Order Secured.— " How have you secured this 
good order ? " said we to the teacher. " I really do not 
know,'^ said he, with a smile; " I have said nothing about 
order." " But have you had~ no difficulty from noisy 
scholars ?" "A little at first; but in a day or two they 
seemed to become quiet, and we have not been troubled 
since." 

The Secret. — Now the secret was, that this latter 
teacher had learned to govern himself. His own man- 
ner gave character to the school. So it will ever be. A 
man will govern more by his manner than in any other 
way. 

Excessive Silence. — There is, too, such a thing as 
keeping a school too still by over-government. A man 
of firm nerve can, by keeping up a constant constraint 
both in himself and pupils, force a deathlike silence 
upon his school. You may hear a pin drop at any 
time, and the figure of every child is as if moulded in 
cast iron. But, be it remembered, this is the stilness 
of constraint, not the stilness of activity. It is an un- 
healthy state both of body and mind, and when attained 
by the most vigilant care of the teacher is a condition 
scarcely to be desired. There should be silence in 
school, a serene and soothing quiet; but it should, if 



l8o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

possible, be the quiet of cheerfulness and agreeable devo- 
tion to study rather than the " palsy of fear." 

Recapitulation. — Thus far I have confined myself to 
those qualifications in the teacher, and to those means 
which, under ordinary circumstances and in most dis- 
tricts, would in my opinion secure good order in our 
schools. With the qualifications I have described in the 
mental and moral condition of the teacher, and the 
means and suggestions above detailed — combined, I be- 
lieve a very large majority of our schools could be most 
successfully governed without any appeal to fear or 
force. 

Force Sometimes Needful. — But as some schools are 
yet in a very bad state, requiring more than ordinary 
talents and skill to control them, and as very many of 
those who must teach for a long time to come have not, 
and cannot be expected to have, all the qualifications 
described, and much less the moral power insisted on, it 
is unreasonable to expect, taking human nature as it is, 
and our teachers as they are, that all can govern their 
schools without some appeals to the lower motives of 
children, and some resort to coercion as an instrumen- 
tality. I should leave this discussion very incomplete, 
therefore, were I not to present my views upon the sub- 
ject of 

SECTION III. PUJTISHMEIS'TS. 

Punishment Defined — As a great deal has been 
written and spoken upon the subject of school punish- 
ments, I deem it important that the term, as I intend 
to use it, should be defined at the outset. I submit the 
following definition : 

Punishment is pain inflicted upon the mind 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. l8l 

OR BODY OF AN" INDIVIDUAL BY THE AUTHORITY TO 
WHICH HE IS subject; with A VIEW EITHER TO RE- 
FORM HIM, OR TO DETER OTHERS FROM THE COMMIS- 
SION OF OFFENCES, OR BOTH. 

Comments on Definition.— It is deemed essential to 
the idea of punishment that the inflictor have legitimate 
authority over the subject of it— otherwise the act is an 
act of usurpation. It is also essential that the inflictor 
should have a legitimate object in view, such as the ref- 
ormation of the individual or of the community in 
which his example has exerted an influence — otherwise 
the act becomes an abuse of power. Infliction for the 
purpose of retaliation, for an insult or injury, is not 
punishment ; it is revenge. Whenever, therefore, a 
teacher resorts to such infliction to gratify his temper, 
or to ^ay off, as it is expressed in common language, 
the bad conduct of a pupil without any regard to his 
reformation or the prevention of similar offences in the 
school, the pain he inflicts is not punishment; it is 
cruelty. Very great importance is to be attached to 
the motive in this matter; because the same infliction 
upon the same individual, and for the same offence, may 
either be just and proper punishment, or it may be the 
most unjustifiable and revengeful abuse, according to 
the motive of the inflictor. 

Whence Authority is Derived. — The authority to 
inflict punishment in general is either by the constitu- 
tion of God or of civil society. " The punishment of 
the faults and offences of children by the parent, says 
Dr. Webster, " is by virtue of the right of government 
with which the parent is invested by God himself." The 
right to punish the offences of children while at school 
is, by the common law, vested in the teacher as the rep- 



1 82 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

resentative of the parent for the time being. It is the 
declaration of this law, as interpreted from time im- 
memorial, that the teacher is in loco parentis — in place 
of the parent. 

A Common Error. — Some have alleged that fear and 
shame, the two principles addressed bj punishment, are 
among the lowest in our nature; and have hence en- 
deavored to show that punishment is always inexpedient, 
if not indeed always wrong. To this I answer, that 
both fear and shame are incorporated in our nature by 
God himself; and hence I infer they are there for a 
wise purpose. I find, moreover, that God himself, in 
His Word and in His Providence, does appeal to both of 
these principles; and hence I infer that punishment in 
the abstract is not wrong, and, after the higher motives 
have been addressed, not altogether inexpedient. 

The Right Assumed. — Living in a community, as we 
do, where the 7nght of punishment in general is as- 
sumed by our government, and the right of teachers to 
punish is conceded by our laws, I do not feel called 
upon to establish the right by argument; I shall assume 
that the teacher has the right to pu7iish in the sense in 
which I have defined punishment, and shall therefore 
proceed to consider the various kinds of punishments 
used in our schools, and to distinguish those which are 
justifiable from those which are not; and also to con- 
sider some of the conditions and limitations of their 
use. 

Plan of Discussion. —In preparing the way to do this 
I may remark that punishments consist of two classes: 
1. Those which address themselves directly to the mind; 
as, privation from privileges, loss of liberty, degradation, 
some act of humiliation, reproof, and the like. 2. Those 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 83 

which address the mind through the body; as, the im- 
position of a task— labor, for instance — requiring the 
pupil to take some painful attitude, inflicting bodily- 
chastisement, etc. 

Two Classes. — I have mentioned these two classes for 
the purpose of calling attention to the fact that there 
are those who approve of the first class, and at the same 
time denounce the second, scouting the idea of reaching 
the mind through the senses of the body. This seems 
to me, however, to indicate a want of attention to the 
laws of our being; for, in the economy of Nature, we are 
made at every point sensitive to pain as a means of 
guarding against injury. Why has the Creator studded 
the entire surface of our bodies with the extremities of 
nerves, whose function is to carry to the brain with 
lightning speed the intelligence of the approach of 
danger? And why should this intelligence be trans- 
mitted, if its object is not to influence the will, either 
to withdraw the suft'ering part from immediate danger, 
or to avoid those objects which cause the pain ? The 
mind, then, by the economy of Natui-e, or rather by the 
arrangement of God, is capable of being influenced 
through the bodily sensations; and those who deny this, 
either do not observe attentively, or, observing, do not 
reason fairly as to the laws of our being. With these 
preliminary observations, I now proceed to consider 

I. Improper Pu?iishments. 

Undignified Modes. — Some punishments are always 
wrong, or at least always inexpedient. The infliction of 
them either implies a wrong feeling on the part of the 
teacher, or it promises no wholesome result on the part 
of the pupil. I shall mention some of them in detail. 



l84 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

1. Punishments that from their Nature Excite the 
Feeling in the Pupil that an Indignity has been Com- 
mitted against His Person. — No man is ready to forgive 
another for luringing his nose. There is almost a uni- 
versal sentiment that this organ is specially exempted 
from such insult. Nearly the same feeling exists as to 
pinching or pulling the ear, or Uvisting the hair, or 
snapping the forehead. Each child feels that these 
parts of his person are not to be trifled with, and the 
feeling is natural and proper. Now, though it is not 
common for teachers to wring the noses of their pupils, 
it is very common for them to do each of the other 
things enumerated. I have often seen such punish- 
ments, but I think I never saw any good come of them. 
The pupil always looked as if the teacher had done 
despite toward his person. Whenever I have seen the 
teacher twist the locks of a child's hair about his finger 
till the tears would start in the eye, I have supposed the 
feelings called forth were anything but desirable, — any- 
thing but favorable to reformation. A pupil must love 
his teacher very strongly to be able to keep his temper 
from rising under such circumstances; and there is great 
doubt whether either of these punishments does any- 
thing to secure cheerful obedience in the child one time 
in a hundred; probably in ninety -nine cases in the 
hundred the evil passions are very much strengthened 
by them. Besides, these are undignified modes of pun- 
isiiment. They savor so much of a weak and childish 
impatience that the pupils find it hard to respect a man, 
much more to love him, who will stoop to so small a 
way of giving vent to his angry feelings. Snapping the 
forehead is subject to strong physiological objections ; 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 85 

and, as a general rule, the head and its appurtenances 
should be exempted from penal violence. 

As to Scolding. — In this place I may very properly 
allnde to another mode of assailing the ears of children, 
quite as undignified in itself and quite as unprofitable 
in its results as pulling them, — and, until they are hard- 
ened to it by familiarity, probably more painful. I 
refer, I need not say, to scolding. This is a punishment 
altogether too common. There is a physiological law 
that the exercise of any organ will give it greater 
strength and generally greater celerity. From this fact, 
and the additional one that the more a child is scolded 
the harder his heart becomes, so that here, as in the 
Rule of Three, "more requires more," it follows that 
those who once begin to scold are fortunate if they stop 
short of high attainments in the art. 

Poor Investment.— There is no enterprise in which 
the investment yields so small a profit as in the business 
of scolding. It is really pitiable to witness the teacher 
given to this practice, making himself and all around 
him unhappy, without the hope of alleviation. The 
command of the tougue is a great virtue in a teacher; 
and it is to be feared that very many children still suffer 
in their moral feelings ^ as well as their ears, because so 
many teachers do not seasonably learn the right control 
of the "unruly member." 

Cockney Blackguardism. — While upon this subject, I 

^ A l)l!icksmith, it is said, who had been accustomed to scold 
his family quite too freely, was one dny attempting to harden a 
piece of steel ; but failing after two or three attempts, his little 
son, who had been an observer of this as well as other operations 
of his father, is said to have exclaimed, ''Scold it,fatJier. scold it; 
if that won't harden it, nothing else will." 



1 86 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

may allude to another very objectionable mode of ad- 
dress practised by some teachers toward their schools. 
t refer to a mixture of scolding with a species of low 
wit or cockney blackguardism, that should ever be 
banished from the schoolroom. Such expressions as, 
"Sit down, John, or Fll shiver your tojo-timhers." — 
''Attend to your studies, or some of jou will be a head 
shorter" — "Keep quiet, or you^.ll hear thunder,"— and 
the like. To these I might add those empty and debas- 
ing threats which are too often and too thoughtlessly 
uttered; as, "I'll skin you alive," or "Fll shake you to 
pieces," or " Fll use you up," — with others of the same 
character. I perhaps ought to beg pardon for placing 
these vulgarisms before the general reader ; but they 
are so frequently employed in our schools — in some of 
our schools of good repute, too — that I thought it to be 
my duty to quote them (for they are all literal quota- 
tions), in order, if possible, to aid those who have fallen 
into such a low habit to see themselves as others see them. 
Mistake about it. — It is so very easy for a teacher to 
raise a laugh among his pupils that he is in danger of 
being seduced into the use of coarse and quaint expres- 
sions by the supposition that they are 2uitty. But the 
mirth of schoolboys is not a more reliable criterion of 
wit in the modern teacher than it was in the case of the 
schoolmaster described by Goldsmith; and possibly the 
exercise of a little discernment on his part would con- 
vince him that children sometimes laugh, as they did of 
old, because they think it prudent to do so. 

" A man severe he was nnrl stern to view: 
I knew bim well, and every truant knew ; 
Well had the bodins; tremblers learned to trace 
The day's disasters in his morning face ; 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 87 

Full well tbey laughed, with counterfeited glee, 
At all Ms jokes, for many a joke had be ! " 

Avoid Such Language.— It is nnquestionalbly true that 
there are schools and many such, now of high standing, 
the language of whose teachers, could it be noted down 
and printed for the parents, would perfectly astonish 
them; and such is the force of habit, it would very likely 
astonish the teachers themselves. Let all who mean to 
respect themselves, or who desire to be long respected by 
others, most carefully avoid the first approach to the 
use of such kind of language. Its influence in school is 
"only evil, and that continually." 

2. Punishments that from Their Nature Imply in the 
Inflictor a Love of Prolonged Torture.— These are quite 
numerous, and are resorted to often for the purpose of 
avoiding what is usually deemed severer punishment. 
Some of them also have very serious physiological ob- 
jections. As an instance, I may mention the holding 
of a weight at arm^s length until the muscles of the arm 
become painful from over-exertion and fatigue. Some- 
times the Bible, being the largest book at hand, is 
chosen as the weight; and thus that Book, which should 
have no associations connected with it in the minds of 
the young but those of reverence and love, is made the 
instrument of torture — the minister of cruelty! 

The Bible at Arm's Length.— Imagine that you see 
— what I have seen — an offending boy called to the 
teacher's desk, and, after words of reproach, sentenced 
to hold the large Bible at arm's length for a specified 
time, or until the teacher is willing to release him. At 
first it is raised with a smile of triumph, almost a smile 
of contempt. Soon the muscles, thus exerted at disad- 
vantage, begin to be weary and to relax. " Hold it up! " 



1 8b THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

exclaims the vigilant teacher, and it is again brought 
to its position. Sooner than before the muscles are 
fatigued, and they almost refuse to obey the mandate 
of the will, which itself is half luilling to rebel against 
authority so unreasonable. "Up with it!" — again 
brings it to its place, or perhaps a stroke of the ratan 
repeats the command with more urgency. At this 
moment every nerve sympathizes, and the muscles are 
urged on to their greatest effort. The limb is in agony 
— and what agony can surpass that of an overstrained 
muscle ? — and the whole system reels and writhes with 
suffering. Now look into that child's face, and tell me 
what is the moral effect of this sort of punishment? 
Unless he is one of the most amiable of the sons^of 
Adam, he inwardly curses the cruelty that he thinks is 
delighted with pangs like these, protracted yet intoler- 
able. He almost curses the Blessed Book which was 
given to warm his soul into life and immortalit5^ He 
cries with pain, but not with penitence. He may sub- 
mit, indeed, and he may abstain from similar offences 
in time to come; but it is the submission of self-pres- 
ervation, and the abstinence of an eye-servant,^ — while 
the stain that has thus been inwrought in his moral 
sensibilities may long remain unexpunged. Such a 
punishment I unhesitatingly pronounce to be improper, 
whatever may be the circumstances. 

Hold a Nail !— Akin to this are those other contriv- 
ances to give prolonged pain, which in different parts of 
the country have taken a variety of forms and as great 
a variety of names. One of these has been termed 
" holding a nail into the floor " It consists in requir- 
ing the pupil to bend forward, and, placing the end of 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 89 

a single finger upon the head of a nail, to remain in 
that position till the whole system is agonized. 

Sitting on Nothing or Worse than Nothing.— Another 
has by some of its inflictors been termed "sitting on 
nothing." The pupil is required to place his back 
against a wall of the room, and his feet perhaps a foot 
from its base, and then to slide his body down till the 
knees are bent at right angles, and his person is in a 
sitting posture without a seat! The muscles, acting 
over the knee at the greatest disadvantage, are now 
made to support the body in that position during the 
pleasure of the teacher. I have seen another mode of 
punishment practised, and, as I have heard no name 
for it, I shall give it the cognomen of " sitting on worse 
than nothing." The boy in this case was required to 
sit upon the floor, and then, placing the feet upon a 
bench or chair, to support the body in an erect position 
by reversed action of the muscles! 

Debasing Effects. — But I gladly turn away from a 
description of the punishments I have witnessed in the 
common schools of New England within a quarter of a 
century, exhibiting as they do so many characteristics 
of the dark ages. Some of these I have witnessed 
quite recently; and to what extent any or all of them 
are now in use, I am unable to say. I only desire to 
say that they are all improper — debasing to the morals 
of the pupils and degrading to the profession of the 
teacher; and the sooner such punishments are entirely 
banished from our school-rooms, the sooner will the 
prof6ssion of the teacher rise to its proper level. 

3. Ridicule. — This is a weapon that should not be 
wielded as a school-punishment. It often cuts deeper 
than he who uses it imagines, and it usually gives most 



190 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

pain where it is least merited. Some physical defect, or 
some monfcal incapacity, or eccentricity, is most fre- 
quently made the subject of it; and yet nothing can be 
more unfeeling or more unjust than its use in such cases. 
If the designed failings of the indolent, or the premedi- 
tated mischief of the vicious, could be subjected to its 
influence, its use would be more allowable; but even 
then it would be questionable. But the indolent and the 
vicious are usually unaffected by ridicule. They sin 
upon calculation, and not without counting the cost; 
and they are therefore very willing to risk their reputa- 
tion where they have so little to lose. It is the modest, 
the conscientious, the well-meaning child that is most 
affected by ridicule; yet it is such a one that, for 
various reasons, is oftenest made the subject of it, 
though of all others his feelings should be most 
tenderly spared. 

Loss of Love and Confidence. — A strong objection 
to the use of ridicule is the feeling which it induces 
between the teacher and pupil. The teacher, conscious 
that he has injured the feelings of the child, will find it 
hard to love him afterwards; for we seldom love those 
whom we have injured. The child, on the other hand, 
loses confidence in his teacher; he feels that his sensi- 
bilities have been outraged before his companions, and 
that the teacher, who should be his best friend in the 
school, has invited the heartless laugh of his fellow- 
pnpils against him. AVith a want of love on the one 
hand, and of confidence on the other, what further use- 
fulness can reasonably be expected ? 

Schoolmates Injured. — Bnt the strongest objection 
of all to the use of ridicule is the fact that it calls forth 
the worst of feelings in the school. Those who partici- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I91 

pate in the laugh thus excited are under the influence 
of no very amiable motives. And when this is carried 
so far as to invite, by direct words, some expression 
from the schoolmates, by pointing the finger of shame, 
and perhaps accompanying the act by a hiss of scorn, 
the most deplorable spirit of self-righteousness is culti- 
vated. 

Freezing the Affection.— Little Mary, one day, was 
detected in a wrong act by her teacher. " Mary, come 
here," said the teacher, sternly. Little thinking she 
had been seen, she obeyed promptly, and stood by 
the chair of her teacher, who, without giving Mary 
time to reflect, and thus allow the conscience oppor- 
tunity to gain the mastery, immediately asked, " What 
naughty thing did I see you do just now ? " " Noth- 
ing," said Mary, partly disposed to justify herself, 
and partly doubting whether indeed the teacher had 
seen her do anything wrong. " Oh, Mary, Mary, who 
would think you would tell me a lie! Did you ever hear 
of Ananias and Sapphira ? " Here a lecture followed on 
the sin and danger of lying, and particularly the danger 
of sudden death by the vengeance of God. Mary began 
to tremble, and then to weep, probably from terror. 
Now came the second part. " I should think you would " 
be ashamed to be known to lie. All the children now 
know that you have lied. I should think they would 
feel ashamed of such a naughty little girl in the school. 
I should not wonder," she continued, " if all the little 
girls and boys should point their fingers at you and 
hiss." In an instant, all the children who were not too 
old to be disgusted with the management and tone of 
the teacher, pointed their fingers, and uttered a long 
succession of hisses, while their faces beamed with al! 



192 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

the complacency of self-rigliteousness, triumphing over 
the fall of a companion, who perhaps was after all as 
good and as truthful a child as any of them. The poor 
child at first turned her back upon them; but soon, 
feeling that her reputation was gone, she turned, as 
woman ever will when her self-respect is blighted, with 
a look of indifference, almost a look of defiance. Fear 
was first swallowed up in shame, and shame gave place 
to wreckless audacity. The whole scene was rendered 
still more ruinous to the child, from the fact that it took 
place in the presence of visitors! 

Not Devastation, but True Culture to be Aimed at. — 
When will our teachers learn the human heart well 
enough to be able to distinguish between a work of 
devastation and of true culture; between a process of 
blighting the sensibilities, searing the conscience, freez- 
ing up the fountains of sympathy, and of mutual love 
and confidence, — and a course of training which warms 
the conscience into activity, inculcates the reverence and 
love of God, instead of a slavish fear of His power, and 
instils into the soul a desire to do right rather than to 
do that which will avoid the reproach of an unfeeling 
multitude, more wicked than those they censure ? Gold- 
smith has shown that ivoman may "stoop to conquer;^' 
but the above narrative shows how she may stoop, not 
to conquer, but to lay waste the youthful heart. 

Let Teachers Think. — These punishments, and such 
as these, which I have'classed under the list oiimpro]}er 
punishments, should all be carefully considered by the 
teacher. They should be considered before he enters 
his school. It would be well always for him to determine 
beforehand what punishments he will not use. It may 
save him many a serious mistake. I have written what 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 1 93 

I have under this head, in order to put teachers upon 
thought; believing that men seldom earnestly and hon- 
estly inquire, without arriving at the truth in the end. 

II. Propel^ Punishments. 

Must be Known Beforehand. — Every teacher's mind 
should, if possible, be settled, as to what punishments 
are proper, so that, when they are inflicted, it can be 
done in good faith, and with an honest conviction of the 
performance of duty. Among the proper punishments, 
I may mention — 

1. Kind Reproof.— This will probably be conceded by 
all. I say kind reproof, because no other reproof can be 
useful. I would distinguish it from rejnoacli. Reproof, 
judiciously administered, is one of the most effectual 
punishments that can be used. As a general rule, this 
is best administered privately. The child's spirit of 
obstinacy is very likely to exhibit itself in the presence 
of his fellows; but, in private, the conscience is free to 
act, and the child very readily submits. It is always 
perfectly safe to reprove privately: that is, not in the 
presence of the school. The child has no motive to 
misrepresent the teacher; and if the teacher so far spares 
the reputation of the pupil as to take him by himself, 
this very circumstance will often give the teacher access 
to his better feelings. 

2. Loss of Privileges. — By abuse of privileges we 
forfeit them. This is a law of Providence. It is un- 
questionably proper that this should be a law of our 
schools. All those offences, therefore, against pro- 
priety in the exercise of any privilege may be attended 
with a temporary or permanent deprivation of such 
privilege. A pupil who is boisterous at the recess, dis- 



194 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

turbing the quiet of the school or impeding the enjoy- 
ment of his playfellows, may be deprived of the recess. 
A child, who disfigures his seat with his knife may be 
deprived of his knife; and so for any other similar 
offence. Some consider it proper to extend this pun- 
ishment to other classes of offences— as, for example, 
whispering or idleness. While I would not deny the 
right or the propriety of doing so, I should think it 
more expedient not thus to extend it. It is well, as far 
as it can be done, so to punish the child that he shall 
see that his conduct naturally leads to its punishment 
as a consequence. And it is moreover very probable that 
in most schools there will be demand enough for this 
punishment, in its natural application, without extend- 
ing it to other cases. 

3. Restraint, or Confinement. — When liberty is 
abused, a scholar may be put under restraint. When 
duty is violated, and the rights of others are wantonly 
disregarded, confinement will afford time for reflection, 
and at the same time relieve others from the annoyance 
and detriment of evil example. Such restraint is often 
a wholesome discipline; and confinement, if it be not 
too far protracted, is always safe. It should be remarked, 
however, that confinement in a daric apartment should 
never be resorted to by any teacher. There are insuper- 
able objections to it, growing out of the fears which 
many children early entertain of being alone in the 
dark, as also the fact that light as well as air is necessary 
to the vigorous action of the nervous system during the 
waking hours, especially in the daytime. It is well 
known that a child shut up in a dark room, even in the 
warmth of summer, speedily undergoes a depression of 
temperature; and if the confinement is unduly pro- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I95 

tracted, cold cliills come over the system. For these 
reasons and others, if confinement is ever used as a pun- 
ishment, it should be in a room properly lighted and 
heated. Our prisoners enjoy, as far as may be, both of 
these favors. 

4. Humiliation.— This should be resorted to with 
gi'eat caution. When a fault has been openly commit- 
ted, and attended with circumstances of peculiar obsti- 
nacy, it may sometimes very properly be required of the 
offender that he should confess the fault in a manner as 
public as its commission. This may be due to the 
school. Sometimes when an offensive act is very 
strongly marked, a confession and a request for the 
forgiveness of the teacher or the individual injured may 
be made a condition of restoration to favor. This is 
usually considered a very proper punishment. I would, 
however, suggest that it be used with great care, and 
never unless the circumstances imperatively demand 
it. It may be the means of cultivating the grossest 
hypocrisy, or of inducing open rebellion; and it some- 
times gives the other pupils an advantage over the cul- 
prit which may do him personally much harm. The 
teacher should be convinced that this is the lest thing 
he can do before he resorts to it. 

5. The Imposition of a Task. — In every school there 
is more or less work to be done; such as sweeping the 
floors, washing the benches, preparing the fuel, and 
making the fires. Unless objection should be made by 
parents, this is one of the most effectual punishments, 
especially in cities and large villages, where work is a 
burden, and the attractions of play are most powerful. 
Some difficult schools have been governed for months 
with no other punishment than labor thus imposed. 



196 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

The plan is, that if two boys neglect their studies so 
as to attract the attention of the teacher, they shall be 
nominated as members on the committee on sweeping — 
a duty to be performed after school-hours. If one or 
two more are decidedly disorderly, they shall be required 
to make fires, bring up wood, or perhaps wash a certain 
portion of the room. This is always assigned pleasantly 
by the teacher, with the understanding, however, that 
any failure to do the allotted work thoroughly and 
faithfully will be attended with a reappointment till 
the object is secured. 

Not Essential. — If parents should object to this, it 
is not absolutely essential to the teacher's success; but 
where no objection is made, if judiciously managed, it 
may do very much in many of our schools towards pro- 
ducing that quiet order which otherwise it might re- 
quire more cogent and less agreeable means to secure. 

An Objection Answered. — It has sometimes been 
urged, as an objection to this mode of punishment, that 
it would tend to attach the idea of disgrace to useful 
labor. It is conceived that this is by no means the 
necessary consequence. On the other hand, it would 
serve to teach the difference there always is between a 
duty imposed and one voluntarily undertaken. The 
same objection would apply to our prison discipline, 
whjere a man, by a wilful disregard of law and the 
rights of others, very justly forfeits his services for a 
time to the state. 

Not Strongly Urged. — I would not lay very much 

. stress upon this mode of punishment, though I have 

known it resorted to under favorable circumstances with 

very good effect. It would of course be more effectual 

in a large town or city than in the country, where boys 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. I97 

are in the habit of laboring at home, and would be quite 
as willing to labor after regular hours at school. 

6. Actual Chastisement with the Rod of Correction. 
— I have no hesitation (though others have) in placing 
this among the class of proper pimisliments. As this 
involves a great question on the subject of school- 
government, and one that is debated with great zeal 
and warmth in almost evei-y educational meeting that is 
held, I shall feel justified in giving a little more space 
to the consideration of it. 

SECTION- IV. CORPOEAL PUNISHMENT. 

Views of Others. — I am aware that when I enter 
this field I am treading on ground every inch of which 
has been disputed. I come to the task of writing on 
this subject, however, I think, without prejudice or 
asperity. Having nothing to conceal, I shall express 
my own views honestly and frankly — views which I en- 
tertain after diligently seeking the truth for some 
twenty years, during which time I have listened to a 
great deal of discussion, and have read carefully and 
candidly whatever has been written by others. Nor do 
I expect to give universal satisfaction. There are 
strong men, and I believe honest men, who run to the 
opposite extremes in their doctrine and practice, and 
who defend the one course or the other as if the ex- 
istence of the world depended upon the issue. There 
are those who not only claim the right to chastise, but 
who insist that whipping should be the first resort of 
the teacher in establishing his authority; and, to show 
that this is not a dormant article of their faith, they 
daily and almost hourly demonstrate their efficiency in 
the use of the rod, so that their pupils may be living 



198 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

witnesses that they act in accordance with their creed. 
Again/there are others who as earnestly deny the right 
of the teacher to resort to the rod at all, and who urge 
with all their power the efficacy of moral suasion to sub- 
due and control the vicious and the stubborn in our 
schools, and who are ready to assert unequivocally that 
no man is fit to be employed to teach the young who 
has not the ability to govern all the various dispositions 
he may meet in any school, without the use of corporal 
punishment. 

Men See Differently. — I have no disposition to ques- 
tion the sincerity and honesty of each of these classes, 
knowing, as I do that different men see with different 
eyes, even when the circumstances are the same — much 
more when their circumstances are widely diverse, I 
have no bitterness of language to apply to those who go 
to the extreme of severity ; nor any sneer to bestow 
upon the name of " moral-suasionist." But while I ac- 
cord to other men the right of expressing their own 
opinions, I claim the same privilege for myself, — yet 
without v/ishing to obtrude my opinions upon other men 
any further than they will bear the test of reason and 
experience. 

Authority at Any Rate, — It is agreed on all hands 
tJio.t the teacher must estaUish authority in some loay, 
before he can pursue successfully the objects of his school. 
I have described the qualifications which the teacher 
should possess in order to govern well, and I have also 
given some of the means of securing good order without 
a resort to severity. Probably, in a large majority of our 
schools, the teacher with these qualifications and the 
employment of these means could succeed in establish- 
ing and maintaining good order without any such resort. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 199 

This should in my opinion always be done, if possible; 
and no one will rejoice more than myself to see the 
day, should that day ever come, when teachers shall be 
so much improved as to be able to do this universally. 
But in writing on this subject it is the dictate of com- 
mon sense to take human nature as it is, and human 
teachers as they are, and as many of them must be, for 
some time to come, and adapt our directions to the 
circumstances. Human nature, as it is exhibited in our 
children, is far from being perfect ; and I am sorry to 
say that the parents of our children often exhibit it in a 
still less flattering light. 

Mr. Mann Quoted.—Perhaps no language of mine can 
so well represent the concurrence of circumstances mak- 
ing corporal punishment necessary in our schools as it 
has been done by the Hon. Horace Mann in his lecture 
on " School Punishments." " The first point," says he, 
"which I shall consider is, whether corporal punish- 
ment is ever necessary in our schools. As preliminary 
to a decision of this question, let us take a brief survey 
of facts. We have in this Commonwealth [Massa- 
chusetts] above one hundred and ninety-two thousand 
children between the ages of four and sixteen years. 
All these children are not only legally entitled to attend 
our public schools, but it is our great desire to increase 
that attendance, and he who increases it is regarded a 
reformer. All that portion of these children who attend 
school enter it from that vast variety of homes which 
exist in the State. From different households, where the 
widest diversity of parental and domestic influences 
prevails, the children enter the schoolroom, where there 
must be comparative uniformity. At home some of 
these children have been indulged in every wish, flat- 



200 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

tered and smiled upon for the energies of their low 
propensities, and even their freaks and whims enacted 
into household laws. Some have been so rigorously de- 
barred from every innocent amusement and indulgence, 
that they have opened for themselves a way to gratifi- 
cation — through artifice, and treachery, and falsehood. 
Others, from vicious parental example, and the corrupt- 
ing influences of vile associates, have been trained to 
bad habits and contaminated with vicious principles 
ever since they were born — some being taught that 
honor consists in whipping a boy larger than themselves; 
others, that the chief end of man is to own a box that 
cannot be opened, and to get money enough to fill it; 
and others, again, have been taught upon their father's 
knees to shape their young lips to the utterance of 
oaths and blasphemy. Now all these dispositions, which 
do not conflict with right more than they do with each 
other, as soon as they cross the threshold of the school- 
room, from the different worlds, as it were, of homes, 
must be made to obey the same general regulations, to 
pursue the same studies, and to aim at the same results. 
In addition to these artificial varieties, there are natural 
differences of temperament and disposition. 

"Again, there are about three thousand public schools 
in the State, in which are employed, in the course of the 
year, about five thousand different persons as teachers, 
including both males and females. Excepting a very 
few cases, these five thousand persons have had no 
special preparation or training for their employment, 
and many of them are young and without experience. 
These five thousand teachers, then, so many of whom 
are unprepared, are to be placed in authority over the 
one hundred and ninety-two thousand children, so many 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 201 

of whom have been perverted. Without passing through 
any transition state for improvement, these parties meet 
each other in the schoolroom, where mutiny and insub- 
ordination and disobedience are to be repressed, order 
maintained, knowledge acquired. He, therefore, who 
denies the necessity of resorting to punishment in our 
schools — and to corporal punishment, too, — virtually 
affirms two things : first, that this great number of 
children, scooped up from all places, taken at all ages 
and in all conditions, can be deterred from the wrong 
and attracted to the right without punishment ; and, 
secondly, he asserts that the five thousand persons whom 
the towns and districts employ to keep their respective 
schools are now, and in the present conditions of things, 
able to accomplish so glorious a work. Neither of these 
propositions am I at present prepared to admit. If there 
are extraordinary individuals — and we know there are 
such— so singularly gifted with talent and resources, and 
with the divine quality of Love, that they can win the 
affection, and, by controlling the heart, can control the 
conduct of children who, for years, have been addicted 
to lie, to cheat, to swear, to steal, to fight, still I do not 
believe there are now five thousand such individuals in 
the State whose heavenly services can be obtained for 
this transforming work. And it is useless, or worse than 
useless, to say that such or such a thing can be done, 
and done immediately, without pointing out the agents 
by whom it can be done. One who affirms that a thing 
•can be done, without any reference to the persons who 
can do it, must be thinking of miracles. If the position 
were that children may he so educated from their birth, 
and teachers 7nay be so trained for their calling, as to 
supersede the necessity of corporal punishment, except 



502 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

in cases decidedly monstrous, then I should have no 
doubt of its truth; but such a position must have refer- 
ence to some future period, which we should strive to 
hasten, but ought not to anticipate." 

Disobedience Encouraged. — Aside from the causes 
demanding punishment, so ably portrayed in the passage 
just quoted, there is still another, growing out of divi- 
sions and quarrels in the district. It is by no means 
uncommon, in our districts, owing to some local matter, 
or to some disunion in politics or religion, for the people 
to be arrayed, the one part against the other. The 
inhabitants of the upijer road are jealous of the dwellers 
on the lower road ; the hill portion of the district is ag- 
grieved by the influence of the valley portion; the " east 
end " complains of the selfishness of the " west end,** 
and so of the north and south. Whenever a school-house 
is to be built, these different interests are aroused, and a 
protracted and baleful quarrel is the result. One party 
"carries the day*' by the force of numbers, but the 
prosperity of the school is impaired for years. At every 
district meeting there will be the same strife for the 
mastery. If one division gains the power, the other 
bends its energies to cripple the school, and to annoy 
the teacher who may be employed by the dominant 
party, however excellent or deserving he may be. " We 
will see,*' say those who find themselves in the minority, 
" we will see whether this man can keep our school as 
well as it was done last year by our master."* This is 
uttered in presence of their children — perhaps their • 
half-gi'own sons, who will be very ready to meet their 
new teacher with prejudice and to act out the misgiv- 
ings of their parents as to his success. When the teacher 
first enters the school, he is met by opposition, even be- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 203 

fore he has time to make an impression for good ; op- 
position, which he can scarcely hope to surmount as long 
as it is thus encouraged at home. Now what shall he 
do ? Shall he yield the point, abandon the idea of 
authority, and endeavor to live along from day to day, 
in the hope of a more comfortable stato of things by 
and by ? He may be sure that matters will daily grow 
worse. Shall he give up in despair, and leave the school 
to some successor ? This will only strengthen the op- 
position and make it more violent when the successor 
shall be appointed. It is but putting the difficulty one 
step farther off. Besides, if the teacher does thus give 
up and leave the school, he loses his own reputation as 
a man of energy, and, in the eyes of the world, who 
perhaps may not know — or care to know — all the cir- 
cumstances, he is held ever after as incompetent for the 
oflfice. 

Shall the Teacher Yield ? No, no !— Now it would be 
very gratifying if the teacher, under any or all of these 
difficulties, could possess the moral power to quell them 
all by a look or by the exercise of his ingenuity in inter- 
esting his pupils in there studies. Undoubtedly there 
are some men who could do it, and do it most triumph- 
antly, so as to make their most zealous enemies in a few 
days their warmest friends. But there are not many 
who can work thus at disadvantage. A¥hat then shall 
be done ? Shall the school be injured by being dis- 
banded, and the teacher be stigmatized for a failure, 
when he has been employed in good faith ? I say Ko! 
He lias the right to establish authority hy corporal in- 
flictio7i ; and thus to save the school and also save him- 
self. And more than this : if there is reasonable 
ground to believe that by such infliction he can establish 



204 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

order, and thus make himself useful, and save the time 
and the character of the school, he not only has the 
riglit, but he is hound by duty to use it. The lovers of 
order in the district have a right to expect him to use it, 
unless by express stipulation beforehand they have ex- 
empted him from it. I repeat, then, that it is the 
teacher's duty to estatlish authority; "peaceably, in- 
deed, if he may — forcibly if he must." 

Change of Teachers.— I ought in fairness here to add, 
as I have before hinted, that not unfrequently the 
necessity for corporal infliction exists in the teacher him- 
self. This is often proved by a transfer of teachers. 
One man takes a school, and can only survive his term 
by the exercise of whipping. He is followed by another 
who secures good order and the love of the school with- 
out any resort to the rod. The first declared that whip- 
ping was necessary in his case to secure good order, and 
truly; but the necessity resided in him and not in the 
school. So it often does; and, while teachers are zeal- 
ously defending the rod, they should also feel the neces- 
siby of improving themselves as the most effectual way 
to obviate its frequent use. 

Daily Flogging Condemned. — When authority is once 
established in a school, it is comparatively easy to main- 
tain it. There will of course be less necessity for resort- 
ing to the rod after the teacher has obtained the ascend- 
ency, unless it be in the event of taking some new pupil 
into the school who is disposed to be refractory. I have 
but little respect for the teacher who is daily obliged to 
fortify his authority by corporal infliction. Something 
must be fundamentally wrong in the teacher whose 
machinery of government, when once well in motion, 
needs to be so often forcibly wound up. 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 205 

Say Nothing about the Rod.— From what has ah-eady 
been said, it will be seen that I do not belong to the 
number who affirm that the rod of correction sliould 
never he used in schools. Nor am I prepared to advise 
any teacher to puhlisU leforeJiand that he will not punish 
with the rod. It would alv/ays be wiser for the teacher 
to say nothing about it. Very little good ever comes of 
threatening the use of it. Threatening of any sort avails 
but little. A teacher may enter a school with the de- 
termination to govern it if possible without force. 
Indeed, I should advise one always to make this deter- 
mination in his own mind. But whenever such a deter- 
mination is published, the probability of success is very 
much diminished. 

There is an Arm of Power. — The true way and the 
safe way, in my opinion, is to rely mainly on moral 
means for the government of the school — to use the 
rod without much threatening, if driven to it by the 
force of circumstances, and, as soon as authority is 
established, to allow it again to slumber, with the tacit 
understanding that it can be again awakened from its 
repose if found necessary. The knowledge in the 
school that there is an arm of power may prevent any 
necessity of an appeal to it; and such a knowledge can 
do no possible harm in itself. But if the teacher has 
once pledged himself to the school that he will never use 
the rod, the necessity may soon come for him toabandon 
his position or lose his influence over the pupils. 

Substitutes Proposed. — As much has been said 
against the use of the rod in any case in school gov- 
ernment, it may be proper to consider briefly some of 
the substitutes for it which have been suggested by its 
opposers. 



206 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Futility of Solitary Confinement.— Some have urged 
solitary confinement. This might do in some cases. 
Undoubtedly an opportunity for reflection is of great 
use to a vicious boy. But then how inadequate are the 
means for this kind of discipline in our schools ! Most 
of our school-houses have but one room. In such cases 
solitary confinement is out of the question. In other 
instances there may be (as there always should be) a 
room, not constantly devoted to the purposes of the 
school. Here a pupil could be confined; and I have no 
objection Avhatever to this course, provided the room is 
not a dark one, and its temperature can be comfortable. 
But even with this facility, confinement cannot be re- 
lied on as the only punishment, because if offences 
should multiply, and the offenders should all be sent to 
the same place, then confinement would soon cease to 
solitary! And suppose some philanthropist should de- 
vise a plan of a school-house with several cells for the 
accommodation of offenders, still this punishment 
would fail of its purpose. The teacher has no power 
to confine a pupil much beyond the limit of school- 
hours. This the obstinate child would understand, and 
he would therefore resolve to hold out till he must be 
dismissed, and then he would be the triumphant party. 
He could boast to his fellows that he had borne the 
punishment, and that without submission or promise 
for the future he had been excused because his time 
had expired. 

Parental Folly.— This substitute is often urged by 
parents, who have tried it successfully in case of their 
own children in their own houses, where it was known 
that ifc could of course be protracted to any necesary 
length. Besides, if the confinement alone was not suffi- 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 207 

cient, the daily allowance of food could be withheld. 
Under such circumstances it may be very effectual, as 
undoubtedly it often has been; but he is a very shallow 
parent who, having tried this experiment upon a single 
child, with all the facilities of a parent, prescribes it 
with the expectation of equal success in the govern- 
ment of a large school. 

Expulsion not Expedient.— Others have urged the 
expulsion of &uch scholars as are disobediefit. To this 
it may be replied that it is not quite certain, under ex- 
isting laws, whether the teacher has the right to expel 
the scholar from the common schools; and some deny 
even the right of the school-officers to do it. Whether 
the right exists or not, it is very questionable whether 
it is ever expedient to expel a scholar for vicious con- 
duct; and especially in cases where there is physical 
power to control him. The vicious and ignorant 
scholar is the very one who most needs the reforming 
influence of a good education. Sent away from the 
fountain of knowledge and virtue at this — the very 
time of need — and what may we expect for him but 
utter ruin ? Such a pupil most of all needs the re- 
straint and the instruction of a teacher who is capable 
of exercising the one and affording the other. 

The Culprit not Made Better.— But suppose he is 
dismissed, is there any reason to hope that this step will 
improve the culprit himself, or better the condition of 
the school? Will he not go on to establish himself 
in vice, unrestrained by any good influence, and at 
last become a suitable subject for the severity of the 
laws, an inmate of our prisons, and perhaps a miserable 
expiator of his own crimes upon the gallows? How 
many youth— and youth worth saving, too — have been 



208 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

thus cast out perversely to procure their own ruin, at 
the very time when they 7niglit have been saved by 
sufficient energy and benevolence, no mortal tongue 
can tell! Nor is the school itself usually benefited by 
this measure. " For all purposes of evil," Mr. Mann 
justly remarks, " he continues in the midst of the very 
children from among whom he was cast out; and when 
he associates with them out of school, there is no one 
present to abate or neutralize his vicious influences. If 
the expelled pupil be driven from the district where he 
belongs into another, in order to prevent his contamina- 
tion at home, what better can be expected of the jjlace 
to which he is sent than a reciprocation of the deed, by 
their sending one of their outcasts to supply his place; 
and thus opening a commerce of evil upon free-trade 
principles. Nothing is gained while the evil purpose 
remains in the heart. Eeformation is the great desid- 
eratum; and can any lover of his country hesitate be- 
tween the alternative of forcible subjugation and victori- 
ous contumacy." 

A Creed and Its Basis. — From all that has been 
said, it will be seen that I do not hesitate to teacK that 
corporal infiiction is one of the justifiable means of es- 
tablishing authority in the school-room. To this con- 
clusion I have come, after a careful consideration of the 
subject, modified by the varied experience of nearly 
twenty years, and by a somewhat attentive observation 
of the workings of all the plans which have been de- 
vised to avoid its use or to supply its place. And al- 
though I do not understand the Scriptures, and particu- 
larly the writings of Solomon, to recommend a too 
frequent and ill-considered use of it, I do not find any 
thing in the letter or spirit of Christianity inconsistent 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 209 

with its proper application. It is the abuse, and not the 
use, of the rod, against which our better feeling, as well 
as the spirit of Christianity, revolts. It is the abuse of 
the rod, or rather the abuse of children under the in- 
fliction of the rod, that first called forth the discussion 
referred to, and awakened the general opposition to its 
use. I am free to admit there has been an egregious 
abuse in this matter, and that to this day it is unabated 
in many of our schools. I admit, too, that abuse very 
naturally accompanies the use of the rod, and that very 
great caution is necessary in those who resort to it, lest 
they pervert it. I feel called upon therefore before 
leaving this subject to throw out for the consideration 
of the young Teacher, particularly, a few hints to regu- 
late the infliction of chastisement, under the head of — 

SECTIOIS" V. LIMITATION'S AKD SUGGESTIONS. 

.1. The Rod the Best Thing — -The teacher should be 
thoroughly convinced that the rod is the best thing for 
the specific case before he determines to use it. Nor 
should he hastily or capriciously come to this con vie- 
tion. He should carefully and patiently try other 
means first. He should study the disposition of the 
offender, and learn the tendencies of his mind ; and only 
after careful deliberation should he suffer himself to 
decide to use this mode of punishment. In order that 
the punishment should be salutary, the scholar should 
plainly see that the teacher resorts to it from deep prin- 
ciple, from the full belief that under all the circum- 
stances it is the best thing that can be done. 

2. Never Punish in Anger. — The teacher should never 
be under the excitement of angry passion when inflict- 
ing the punishment This is of the utmost importance. 



2IO THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Most of the abuses before spoken of grow out of a vio- 
lation of this fundamental rule. A teacher should 
never strike for punishment till he is perfectly self-pos- 
sessed, and entirely free from the bitterness which per- 
haps tinctured his mind when he discovered the offence. 
It was a wise remark of a young Shaker teacher, that 
" no teacher should strike a child till he could hold his 
arm" So long as the child discovers that the teacher 
is under the influence of passion, and that his lips trem- 
bled with pent-up rage, and his blood flows into his face 
as if driven by inward fires of wrath, he looks upon him, 
not as his friend seeking his welfare, but as his enemy 
indulging in persecution. This will call forth the evil 
passions of the child, and while he bears the pain, he 
feels no real penitence; and very likely in the midst of 
his suffering he resolves to go and do the same again, 
out of mere spite. 

Public Opinion. — It is moreover of great consequence, 
in the infliction of a punishment, that the teacher should 
be fully sustained by the public opinion of the school. 
He can never expect this when he losses his self-control. 
If the pupils see that he is angry, they almost instinct- 
ively sympathize with the weaker party, and they as- 
sociate the idea of injustice with the action of the 
stronger. A punishment can scarcely be of any good 
tendency inflicted under such circumstances. 

3. In Presence of the School. — Corporal punishment, 
as a rule, should be iwfiicted in presence of the school. I 
have before advised that reproof should be given in pri- 
vate, and assigned reasons for it, which were perhaps 
satisfactory to the reader. But in case of corporal pun- 
ishment, the offence is of a more public and probably 
of a more serious nature. If inflicted in private, it will 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 211 

still be known to the school, and therefore the reputa- 
tion of the scholar is not saved. If inflicted in the 
proper spirit by the teacher and for proper cause, it 
always produces a salutary effect upon the school. But 
a still stronger reason for making the infliction public 
is that it puts it beyond the power of the pupil to mis- 
represent the teacher, as he is strongly tempted to do if 
he is alone. He may misstate the degree of severity, 
and misrepresent the manner of the teacher; and, with- 
out witnesses, the teacher is at the mercy of his reports. 
Sometimes he may ridicule the punishment to his com- 
rades, and lead them to believe that a private infliction 
is but a small matter; again, he may exaggerate it to 
his parents, and charge the teacher most unjustly with 
unprincipled cruelty. Under these circumstances, I am 
of the opinion that the safest and most effectual way is 
to do this work in presence of the school. An honest 
teacher needs not fear the light of day; and if he has 
the right spirit, he needs not fear the effect upon his 
other pupils. It is only the violent, angry punishment 
that needs to be concealed from the general eye, and 
that we have condemned as improper at any rate. 

4. Reasons for Delay of Punishment. —Punishment 
may sometimes be delayed ; and always delayed until 
all anger has subsided in the teacher. It is often best 
for all concerned to defer an infliction for a day or more. 
This gives the teacher an opportunity in his cooler mo- 
ments to determine more justly the degree of severity to 
be used. It will also give the culprit time to reflect 
upon the nature of his offence and the degree of punish- 
ment he deserves. I may say that it is generally wise 
for the teacher after promising a punishment to take 
some time to consider whe/t it shall be, whether a cor- 



212 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

poral infliction or some milder treatment. If after due 
and careful reflection he comes conscientiously to the 
conclusion that bodAly pain is the best thing, while he 
will be better prepared to inflict, the pupil by similar 
reflection will be better prepared to receive it and profit 
by it. 

5. The Instrument. — A proper instrument should be 
used and a proper mode of infliction adopted. No 
heavy and hurtful weapon should be employed. A light 
rule for the hand, or a rod for the back or lower extremi- 
ties, may be preferred. Great care should be exercised^ 
to avoid injuring any of the joints in the infliction; and 
on no account should a Uow be given upon the head, 

6. Deliberation and Thorough Work. — If possible, the 
punishment should be made effectual. A punishment 
that does not produce thorough submission and peni- 
tence in the subject of it can hardly be said to answer 
its main design. To be sure, in cases of general insub- 
ordination in the school, I have said that punishment 
may be applied to one, having in view the deterring of 
others from similar offences. But such exemplary pun- 
ishment belongs to extreme cases, while disciplinary 
punishment, which has mainly for its object the refor- 
mation of the individual upon whom it is inflicted, should 
be most relied on. Taking either view of the case, it 
should if possible answer its design, or it would be better 
not to attempt it. The teacher^s judgment, therefore, 
should be very carefully exercised in the matter, and all 
his knowledge of human nature should be called into 
requisition. If after careful and conscientious deliber- 
ation he comes to the conclusion that the infliction of 
pain is the best thing, and to the belief that he can so 
inflict it as to show himself to the school and to the 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT, 21 3 

child, in this act as in all others, a true and kind friend 
to the child,— then he is justified in making the at- 
tempt; and having considerately undertaken the case, 
it should be so thorough as not soon to need repetition. 

"Little Whippings." — I would here take the oppor- 
tunity to censure the practice of those teachers who 
punish every little departure from duty with some tri- 
fling appliance of the rod, which the scholar forgets 
almost as soon as the smarting ceases. Some instruc- 
tors carry about with them a ratan or stick, in order to 
have it ready for appliance as soon as they see any 
departure from their commands. The consequence is 
they soon come to a frequent and inconsiderate use of 
it, and the pupils by habit become familiar with it, and 
of course cease to respect their teacher or to dread his 
punishments. I have seen so much of this that, when- 
ever I see a teacher thus " armed and equipped" I infer 
at once that his school is a disorderly one — an inference 
almost invariably confirmed by a few minutes' observa- 
tion. My earnest advice to all young teachers would 
be, next to the habit of scolding incessantly, avoid the 
habit of resorting to the rod on every slight occasion. 
When that instrument is not demanded for some special 
exigency, some great occasion and some high purpose, 
allow it to slumber in a private corner of your desk, 
not again to be called into activity till some moral con- 
vulsion shall disturb its quite repose. 

How to Discuss this Subject.— I have a single cau- 
tion to give in regard to the discussion of this subject, 
which in all our educational gatherings occupies so 
much time and talent. It is this: Do not adopt a 
general principle from too few inductions. There is an 
old proverb that declares, " one swallow does not make 



214 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

a slimmer." Young teacliers are very prone to rely on 
the experience of a single term. If they have kept one 
term without corporal punishment, they are very likely 
to instruct their seniors with their experie7ice; and. if 
they have happened to he so situated as be compelled to 
save themselves by the rod, why then too their ex- 
perience forever settles the question. It requires the 
experience of more tlian one, or tiuo, or three schools to 
enable a man to speak dogmatically on this subject; and 
I always smile when I hear men, and sometimes very 
young men, who have never kept school in their lives, 
perhaps, or at most but a single term, speaking as with 
the voice of authority. Experience is indeed one of our 
safest guides in this as in every other matter; but they 
who tell their experience should at least wait till they 
have that lohich is luorthy to he told. 

A False Position. — There is another point. It is 
quite fashionable at the present day, whenever this sub- 
ject is to be discussed, to propose the matter in the form 
of a resolution-, as, "Eesolved, that no person is fit to 
be employed as a teacher who cannot govern his 
scholars by holier means than bodily chastisement;" or, 
"Resolved, that no limit should be set to the teacher's 
right to use the *rod of correction,' and that they who 
denounce the teachers for resorting to it are unworthy 
of our confidence in matters of education." Now who- 
ever presents the question in this, form assumes that he 
has drawn a line through the very core of the truth; 
and he undertakes to censure all those who are unwilling 
to square their opinions by the line thus drawn. In the 
discussion a man must take one side or the other of the 
question as it is proposed, and consequently he may take 
a false position. The better way would be to present 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 21 5 

the whole subject as matter of free remark, and thus 
leave every one to present his own views honestly as they 
lie in his own mind. In this way no one is pledged to 
this or that party, but is left unprejudiced to discover 
and embrace the truth wherever it is found. 

French Resolution. — It should moreover be remem- 
bered that resolving by the vote of a meeting, in order 
to force puUic opinion, can never affect the truth. A 
few impious, heaven -daring men in France, at one of 
their revels, once resolved, " there is no God ! " — but 
did this blasphemous breath efface the impress of Deity 
on all this fair creation of His power ? And when they 
rose from their vile debauch and sought with tottering 
step to leave the scene of madness and to court the dim 
forgetfulness of sleep — rolled not the shining orbs in 
heaven's high arch above them as much in duty to His 
will, as when they sang together to usher in creation's 
morning ? So it will ever be ! Men may declare and 
resolve as they please; but truth is eternal and un- 
changeable ; and they are the wisest men who modestly 
seek to find her as she is, and not as their perverted 
imaginations would presume to paint her. 

A More Excellent Way. — Yet after all, in the govern- 
ment of schools, there is a more excellent way. There 
are usually easier avenues to the heart than that which 
is found through the integuments of the body. Happy 
is that teacher who is so skilful as to find them; and 
gladly would I welcome the day when the number of 
such skilful and devoted teachers should render any 
further defence of the rod superfluous. Although I be- 
lieve that day has not yet arrived, still, in the mean 
time, I most earnestly urge all teachers to strive to 



2l6 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

reacli the higher motives and the finer feelings of the 
young, and to rely mainly for success, not upon appeals 
to fear and force, but upon the power of conscience and 
the law of reciprocal affection. 

Higher Motives First. — As I have placed the higher 
motives and the more desirable means first in order in 
these remarks on government, so I would always have 
them first, and perseveringly employed by the teacher; 
and if by earnestness in his work, by unfeigned love for 
the young, by diligence in the study of their natures, 
and the adaptation of means to ends which true be- 
nevolence is sure to suggest, he can govern successfully 
without corporal punishment, — as in a large proportion 
of cases I believe it can be done, — none will rejoice more 
than I at such a desirable result; and I most cordially 
subscribe to the principle so happily stated by another, 
that in the government of schools, if thorough obedience 
be but secured and order maintained, other things being 
equal, "the minimum of punishment is the max- 



QUESTIO:^S. 

1. What qualities must the teacher possess to secure and 
maintain order in his school? 

2. What renders the teacher unfit for the government of 
children? 

3. How can the teacher make his influence felt by his mere 
presence ? 

4. How can the teacher secure and hold both the respect 
and confidence of his pupils? 

5. Show that children are permanently injured under the 
government of a teacher who cannot control himself. 

6. What should be the guiding principle in the government 
of children ? 

7. What relation should exist (a) between teacher and pupils, 
{b) between teacher and parents ? 



SCHOOL GOVERNMENT. 21 7 

8. Why is it unwise to set up a high standard for juvenile 
good conduct ? 

9. To what qualities in the children should the teacher ap- 
peal in his government ? 

10. Wliy should the teacher study the temperaments of his 
pupils? 

11. {a) Why must the teacher be very careful as to the first 
impression he makes on the pupils ? (6) Give an example il- 
lustratiuj; these points. 

12. (a) Why is it diificult to judge the motives of a child in 
committing an offence ? (6) What rule for the method of 
guidance may be deduced from these facts? 

13. (a) Give an example from your experience where a 
child's offence was misinterpreted, (b) One where the motive 
was disregarded. 

14. Why is it a mistake to suppress the natural tendencies 
of children ? 

15. (a) Why should it be a maxim with the teacher to believe 
in a pupil's innocence until proved guilty ? (6) Give an ex- 
ample of a violation of this rule and subsequent effects. 

16. How can the teacher secure and retain the assistance of 
the public opinion of the school in matters concerning disci- 
pline ? 

17. By what plan will the teacher best succeed in keeping his 
pupils employed ? 

18. Why is it a good plan to make but few rules? 

19. Illustrate by an example the folly of prescribing punish- 
ments for all violations of fixed laws. 

20. Do you believe threatening to be a proper means of pre- 
serving order ? Give reasons. 

21. On what does success in the government of a school 
principally depend ? 

22. Describe the value of singing as a means of securing 
order. 

23. What would you do if a pupil should refuse to sing along 
with the school? 

24. Why is it important that the teacher should visit the 
parents of his pupils ? 

25. What is your opinion as to the value of a system of 
" marking" as an incentive to obedience or diligence? 

26. What is the real object of school government ? 

27. Describe a well-governed school. 

28. Explain what is meant by the rule, "There should be 
silence in school." 



2l8 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

29. (a) Give Mr. Page's definition of punishment. (6) Define 
it in your own language. 

30. Wiiy stiould punishment never address itself to fear or 
shame ? 

31. Mention punishments which address the mind (a) di- 
rectly, (6) indirectly. 

32. What do you consider an improper punishment? Why? 

33. Give examples, and show the subsequent consequences 
of improper punishments. 

34. Why should ridicule never be resorted to as a school 
punishment? 

35. How can punishment be made a means of strengthening 
the mutual good feeling between teacher and pupil ? 

36. What is the result of harshness and unsympathetic 
treatment of children ? 

37. Is a barbarous form of government carried out consist- 
ently to be preferred to a humane treatment full of inconsist- 
encies? Give reasons. 

38. What makes school government so complex and difficult 
a task ? 

39. When only should coercive measures be resorted to in 
school ? 

40. Do you believe it advisable to inflict corporal punish- 
ment upon pupils ? Explain your opinion. 

41. Do you consider solitary confinement of pupils a pi'Oper 
punishment ? Give reasons. 

42. What objections may be raised against the expulsion of 
pupils from the common school ? 

43. What two extremes must be avoided in school govern- 
ment ? 

44. What should determine the degree of severeness of 
punishment ? 

45. (a) Why is it important to accustom the children to self- 
control ? (6) How may this be done in school ? 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 219 



CHAPTER X. 

SCHOOL AERANGEMENTS. 

Forethought. — Every teacher, before opening a school, 
should have some general plan in his mind of what he 
intends to accomplish. In every enterprise there is 
great advantage to he derived from forethought; and 
perhaps nowhere is the advantage greater than in the 
business of teaching. The day of opening a school is an 
eventful day to the young teacher. A thousand things 
crowd upon him at the same time, and each demands a 
prompt and judicious action on his part. The children 
to the number of half a hundred all turn their inquiring 
eyes to him for occupation and direction. They have 
come full of interest in the prospects of the new school, 
ready to engage cheerfully in whatever plans the teacher 
may have to propose ; and, I was about to say, just as 
ready to arrange and carry into effect their own plans of 
disorder and misrule, if they, unhappily for him and for 
themselves, find he has no system to introduce. 

An Eventful Moment — What a critical— what an 
eventful moment is this first day of the term to all con- 
cerned! The teacher's success and usefulness — nay, his 
reputation as an efficient instructor — now " hang upon 
the decision of an hour." An hour, too, may almost 
foretell whether the precious season of childhood and 
youth now before these immortals is to be a season of 
profit and healthful culture under a judicious hand, or a 
season of wasted — perhaps worse than wasted — existence, 



220 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

under the imbecility or misguidance of one who '* knows 
not what he does or what he deals with." 

Angelic Solicitude. — If angels ever visit our earth and 
hover unseen around the gatherings of mortals to survey 
their actions and contemplate their destiny as affected 
by human instrumentality, it seems to me there can be 
no spectacle so calculated to awaken their interest and 
enkindle their sympathy as when they see the young 
gathering together from their scattered homes in some 
rural district, to receive an impress, for weal or woe, from 
the hand of him who has undertaken to guide them. 
And, supposing them to have the power to appreciate to 
the full extent the consequences of human agency, how 
must they be touched with emotions of joy and gratitude, 
or shudder with those of horror and dread, as they wit- 
ness the alternations of wisdom and folly, seriousness 
and indifference, sincerity and duplicity, purity and 
defilement, exhibited by him who has assumed to be at 
once the director and exemplar in the formation of 
human character at such an important period! 

Low Qualifications. — How deplorable is the thought 
that all the fond hopes of the parents, all the worthy 
aspirings of the children, and all the thrilling interests 
of higher beings, are so often to be answered by qualifi- 
cations so scanty, and by a spirit so indifferent in the 
teacher of the young! How sad the thought that up to 
this very moment so pregnant with consequences to all 
concerned, there has been too often so little of prepara- 
tion for the responsibility! 

A Suggestion for the First Day. — I fain would im- 
press the young teacher with the importance of having 
a plan for even the first day of the school. It will raise 
him surprisingly in the estimation of the pupils and 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 221 

also of the parents, if he can make an expeditious and 
efficient beginning of the school. While the dull teacher 
is slowly devising the plans he will iy and hy present 
for the employment and improvement of his school, the 
children taking advantage of their own exemption from 
labor, very promptly introduce their own plans for 
amusing themselves or for annoying him; — whereas if 
he could but have his own plans already made, and 
could promptly and efficiently carry them into execution, 
he would forestall their mischievous designs, and make 
co-operators out of his opposers. 

Important Inquiries. — In order to be sure of a suc- 
cessful commencement, I would recommend that the 
teacher should go into the district a few days before the 
school is to begin. By careful inquiry of the trustees or 
the school committee, he can ascertain what is the char- 
acter of the district and the vrants of the school. This 
will afford him considerable aid. But he should do 
more than this. He would do well to call on several of 
the families of the district whose children are to become 
members of his school. This he can do without any 
ceremony, simply saying to them that, as he has been 
appointed their teacher, he is desirous as far as he may 
to ascertain their wants, in order to be as prompt as 
possible in the organization of his school. He will of 
course see the children themselves. From them he can 
learn what was the organization of the school under his 
predecessor ; how many studied geography, how many 
arithmetic, grammar, etc. ; and he can also learn 
whether the former organization was satisfactory to the 
district or not. The modes of government, and the 
methods of interesting the pupils practised by the 
former teacher, would be likely to be detailed to him ; 



222 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and, from the manner of both parents and children, he 
could judge whether similar methods would still be 
desirable in the district. By calling on several of the 
largest families in this way, he would learn beforehand 
very accurately the state of the school and the state of 
the district. 

Caution against Meanness.— I will take this occasion 
t-o insist that the teacher, in these visits, should heartily 
discourage any forwardness, so common among children, 
to disparage a former teacher. It should be his sole ob- 
ject to gain useful information. He should give no 
signs of pleasure in listening to any unfavorable state- 
ments as to his predecessor; and I may add that, during 
the progress of the school, he should ever frown upon 
any attempt on the part of the pupils to make com- 
parisons derogatory to a former teacher. This is a 
practice altogether too prevalent in our schools; and I 
am sorry to say there are still too many teachers who are 
mean enough to countenance it. Such a course is un- 
fair, because the absent party may be grossly misrepre- 
sented ; it is dangerous, because it tends to cultivate a 
spirit of detraction in the young; and it is 7nea7i, because 
the party is absent, and has no opportunity of defending 
himself. 

Making Personal Friends. — Another important ad- 
vantage of the visits proposed would be, that he would 
make the acquaintance of many of the children before- 
hand; and very likely, too, if he should go in the right 
spirit and with agreeable manners, he would make a 
favorable impression upon them, and thus he would have 
personal friends on his side to begin with. The parents, 
•too, would see that he took an interest in his employment; 
that he had come among them in the spirit of his voca- 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 22^ 

tion, — in the spirit of earnestness, — and they would be- 
come interested in his success — a point of no small im- 
portance. 

A Common Error. — I might here caution the teacher 
against a very common error. He should not confine 
his visits to the more wealthy and influential families. 
The poor and the humble should receive his attentions 
as soon as the rich. From the latter class very likely a 
large portion of his school will come; and it is wrong 
in principle as well as policy to neglect those who have 
not been as successful as others in the one item of ac- 
cumulating property. 

Early at the School.— On the day of opening the 
school he should be early at the schoolhouse. Mr. 
Abbot, in his "Teacher," has some valuable suggestions on 
this point. " It is desirable," he says, " that the young 
teacher should meet his scholars at first in an unofficial 
capacity. For this purpose he should repair to the 
schoolroom, on the first day, at an early hour, so as to 
see and become acquainted with the scholars as they 
come in, one by one. He may take an interest with 
them in all the little arrangements connected with the 
opening of the school. The building of the fire, the 
paths through the snow, the arrangements of seats, call- ■ 
ing upon them for information or aid, asking their 
names, and, in a word, entering fully and freely into 
conversation with them, just as a parent, under similar 
circumstances, would do with his children. All the 
children thus addressed will be pleased with the gentle- 
ness and affability of the teacher. Even a rough and 
ill-natured boy, who has perhaps come to the school 
with the express determination of attempting to make 
raischief, will be completely disarmed by being asked 



224 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

pleasantly to help the teacher fix the fire, or alter the 
position of a desk. Thus by means of the half hour 
during which the scholars are coming together, the 
teacher will find, when he calls upon the children to take 
their seats, that he has made a large number of them his 
personal friends. Many of these will have communi- 
cated their first impressions to others, so that he will 
find himself possessed, at the outset, of that which is 
of vital consequence in opening any administration — a 
strong party in his favor." 

Roguery Promoted.— It will be well for the teacher, 
for several days, both in the morning and afternoon, to 
be early at the schoolroom. He can thus continue his 
friendly intercourse with the pupils, and effectually pre- 
vent any concerted action among them at that hour to 
embarrass his government. Many a school has been 
seriously injured, if not broken up, by the scholars' 
being allowed to assemble early at the school with noth- 
ing to occupy them and no one to restrain them. Having 
so convenient an opportunity for mischief, their youth- 
ful activity will be very likely to find egress in an evil 
direction. Many a tale of roguery could be told founded 
upon the incidents of the schoolroom before school- 
hours, if those who have good memories would but 
reveal their own experience — roguery that never would 
have occurred had the teacher adopted the course here 
suggested. 

SECTION I. PLAN" OF THE DAY^S WORK. 

« What Shall I Do? '^ — It will be remembered by many 
of the readers of this volume that in former times 
numerous teachers were accustomed to work without a 
plan, attempting to do their work just as it happened to 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 22^ 

demand attention, but never taking the precaution to 
have this demand under their own control. If one 
scholar or class was not ready to recite, another would 
be called; and there being no particular time for the 
various exercises, the school would become a &cene of 
mere listlessness ; and the teacher would hardly know 
how to find employment for himself in the school. 

An Example. — I shall make this point clearer by an 
example. Having occasion, in an oJBficial capacity, to 
visit a school which had been kept by a young teacher 
some two weeks, she very naturally asked, " What shall 
I do first this afternoon ? " 

" Do precisely as you would if I had not come in," was 
the reply. 

She looked a little perplexed. At length she doubt- 
ingly asked, " Is the Geography lesson ready ? " 

"Yes, m'm" — "No, m'm" — "Yes, m'm," — was the 
ambiguous reply from the class. There was so much of 
veto in the looks of the young geographers that it 
amounted to prohibition. 

"Well, are the scholars in Colburn^s Arithmetic 
ready?" 

This was said with more of hope; but the same 
equivocal answer was vociferated from all parts of the 
room. The teacher, placing her finger upon her lip, 
looked despairingly; bat recollecting one more resort, 
she said, " Is the Grammar class ready ? " 

Again came the changes on " Yes, m'm," and " No, 
m'm." 

The teacher gave up, and asked what she should do. 
She was again told to go on as usual for that afternoon. 
It was a tedious afternoon to her, as it was to her visitor. 
She at length called one of the classes, unprepared as 



226 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

many of them said they were, and the exercise showed 
that none but those who said " Yes, m^m " were mis- 
taken. The whole afternoon seemed to be one of pain 
and mortification to all concerned; and I fancied I 
could almost read in the knitted brow of the teacher a 
declaration that that should be her last school. 

A Hint Given. — At the close of the afternoon, a single 
hint was suggested to her, — viz., that she should make 
out a list of her scholars' duties, and the times when 
they should be expected to recite their several lessons. 
She was told that it would be well to explain this plan 
of her day's work to her school in the morning, and 
then never again ash loliether a class ivas ready. The 
hint was taken; and on subsequent visitations the 
several classes were ever ready to respond to the call of 
their instructor. 

An Important Consideration. — ^Now this matter is no 
unimportan tone to the teacher. Indeed, I judge of a 
teacher's ability very much by the wisdom and tact with 
which he apportions his time for his own duties, and 
divides the time of his scholars between their studies 
and recitations. 

A Case Supposed. — In order to aid the young teacher 
in forming a plan for himself, I subjoin a scheme of a 
day's duties, adapted to a school of the simplest grade. 
Suppose a school to consist of thirty scholars, and that 
the teacher finds by inquiry and by examination that 
there may be four grand divisions : the first, which he 
designates [A], may unite in pursuing Eeading, Gram- 
mar, Mental Arithmetic, Written Arithmetic, and Writ- 
ing; the second [B] can pursue Reading, Spelling, 
Writing, Geography, Mental and Written Arithmetic; 
the third [C] attend to Reading, Spelling, Mental 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 227 

Arithmetic, Writing, and Geography; the fourth [D], 
consisting of the small pupils, attend to Reading, >Spell- 
ing. Tables, and sundry slate exercises, 

A Scheme of Classification. — Now it is very desirable 
that as much time should be devoted to recitation as can 
be afforded to each class. It may be seen at once that 
in certain studies, as geography, mental arithmetic, and 
spelling, the teacher can as well attend to fifteen at 
once as to seven. In these studies, unless the disparity 
in age and attainment is very great, two divisions can 
very properly be united. All can be taught writing at 
once, thus receiving the teacher^s undivided attention 
for the time. Besides, it is necessary to reserve some 
little time for change of exercises, and also for the in- 
terruptions which must necessarily occur. The recesses 
are to be provided for, and some time may be needed 
for investigation of violations of duty, and for the pun- 
ishment of offenders. All this variety of work will 
occur in every school, even the smallest. Now, if the 
teacher does not arrange this in accordance with some 
plan, he will be very much perplexed, even in a small 
school ; and how much more in a large one ! He will do 
well very carefully to consider the relative importance 
of each exercise to be attended to, and then to write out 
his scheme somewhat after the following model. It 
must not be forgotten that studying is also to be pro- 
vided for, and that it is just as important that the 
pupils should be regular in this as in recitation. Indeed, 
without such regularity he cannot expect acceptable 
recitations. 



22S 



THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



PROGRAM 

FOR THE ABOVE SUPPOSED CIRCUMSTANCES. 



Tune. 


1 M. 


Recitations, dtc. 


Studies. 


9 to 9.15 


15 


Reading Script., & Praykr. 




9.15 to 9.40 


25 


J D. Reading, Spelling, or j 
1 Tables. I 


A. Reading; B. Arith.; 
C. Geogiaphy. 


9.40 to 9.42 


2 


Rest, Change of Classes, &c. 




9.42 to 10 


18 


A. Reading. 


JB. Arith.; C. Geog.; 
1 D. Slates. 


10 to 10.5 


5 


j Rest, Singing, or An- 

( swebing Questions. 




10.5 to 10.25 


20 


B. Aritlimetic. 


J A. Gram.; C. Geog.; 
1 D. Books or Cards. 


10.25 to 10.28 


3 


Rest, &c. 




10.23 to 10.48 


20 


B. & C. Geograph3'. 


A. Gram.; D. Recess. 


10.48 to 11 


12 


Recess. 




11 to 11.15 
11.15 to 11.35 
11.35 to 11.50 


15 
20 
15 


D. Reading, &c. 

A. Grammar. 

B. & C, Spelling. 


J A.Gram.;B.M.Arith.; 

1 C. Spelling. 

{ B. Spelling; C. Spell- 
ing; D. Slates. 
A.M. Arith. ;D. Books 
or Cards. 


ll.cO to 12 


10 


General Exercise. 








Intermissio7i. 




2 to 2.15 

2 15 to 2.45 
2.45 to 3.10 

3.10 to 3.30 


15 

30 
25 

20 


D. Reading, Spelling, Tables. 

A. B. & C. Writing. 

A. & B. Mental Arithmetic. 

0. Reading. 


A. Arith.; B. Read- 
ing; C. Reading. 
D. Slates. 

C. M. Arith. ; D. Recess. 
1 A. Arith. ; B. Arith. ; 
1 D. Books, &c. 


3.30 to 3.40 


10 


Recess. 




3.40 to 4 


20 


B. Reading. 


j A.Arith.;C.M.Arith.: 
1 D. Drawing. 


4 to 4.5 


5 


Rest, or Singing. 




4.5 to 4.25 
4.25 to 4.55 


20 
80 


C. Mental Arithmetic. 
A. Arithmetic. 


j A. Read. ;B. Arith. o; 
■) Draw.; D. Slates. 
J B. Arith. or Draw. ; C. 
1 Draw,; D. Dismissed. 


4.55 to 5 


5 


Gen. Exer. and Dismission. 





SCHOOL ARRANGEMEMTS. 259 



RemarJcs. 

Division of Time and Work, — In the foregoing pro- 
gram, the first column shows the division of ti7ne, and 
the portion allowed to each exercise. I need not say 
the teacher should be strictly punctual. To this end 
a clock is a very desirable article in the school. Both 
teacher and pupils would be benefited by it. The sec- 
ond column shows the recitations, admitting perhaps 
some variety, especially in case of the younger children ; 
while the third shows the occupation of those classes 
which are not engaged in recitation. 

Study Provided for.— It v/ill be seen that the classes 
are studying those lessons which they are soon to recite ; 
and, as in this case it is supposed that all the lessons will 
be learned in school, each one has been provided for. 
It would be well, however, in practice to require one of 
the studies to be learned out of school, in which case no 
time should be allowed to the sticdy of that branch in 
the program. 

Drawing. — It will be perceived that draioing is placed 
as the occupation of the younger classes near the close 
of the afternoon. This is based upon the supposition 
that the teacher during recess has placed an example on 
the blackboard, to be copied by the children upon their 
slates. This is perhaps the most effectual way to teach 
drawing to children. Those more advanced, however, 
may use paper and pencil, and draw from an engraved 
copy, or from a more finished specimen furnished from 
the teacher's portfolio. It is essential that the teacher 
should, if possible, give some specimens of his own in 
this branch. I have seldom known a teacher to excite 



230 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

an interest in drawing who relied altogether upon en- 
gravings as models for imitation. 

An Assistant. — It should be remarked further, con- 
cerning such a program, that in case of an assistant in 
the school, two columns under the head of Recitations 
should be formed — one for the principalis classes, and 
one for the assistant's. If there are a few talented 
scholars, who are able to do more than their class, they 
can be allowed to join some of the classes out of their 
division, or they may be provided with an extra study 
which will not need daily recitation. 

Alternation. — In case the school is much larger than 
the one one supposed above, and the classes necessarily 
so numerous as to make the time allowed to each study 
very short, then the principle of alternation may be in- 
troduced; that is, some studies may be recited Mondays, 
Wednesdays, and Fridays, — and some other studies, with 
other classes, take their places on the alternate days. It 
is decidedly better for the teacher to meet a class, in 
arithmetic for instance, especially of older pupils, but 
twice or three times a week, having time enough at each 
meeting to make thorough work, than to meet ih^m. 
daily, but for a time so short as to accomplish but little. 
The same remark may be applied to reading, and indeed 
almost any other branch. 

Thorough Work; no Nibbling — The idea is a mis- 
chievous one, that every class in reading, or in any other 
branch, must be called out four times a day, or ev©n 
twice a day — except in the case of very young children. 
It may be compared to nibbling at a cracker as many 
times in a day, without once taking a hearty meal — a 
process which would emaciate any child in the course of 
three months. These scanty nibblings at the table of 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 2}l 

knowledge, so often and so tenaciously practised, may 
perhaps account for the mental emaciation so often dis- 
coverable in many of our schools. 

Difficulty of Classifying.— The difficulty of classify- 
ing and arranging the exercises of a school becomes 
greater as the number of teachers to be employed in- 
creases; and there is much greater inconvenience in 
allowing any pupils to study out of their own division 
when the number of teachers is more than one or two. 
Few are aware of the difficulty of arranging the exercises 
of a large school but those who have experienced it. It 
can be done, however; and it should always be done as 
soon as possible after commencing the school. 

Way to Correct a Scheme.— If at any time the ar- 
rangement when made is not found to be perfect, it is 
not wise to change it at once. Let it go on a few days, 
and watch its defects with great care; and in the mean 
time study, out of school, to devise a better. When this 
has been accomplished and committed to paper, and 
perfectly comprehended by the teacher, it may be posted 
up in the schoolroom, and the day announced when it 
will go into operation. It will soon be understood by 
the pupils, and the change can thus be made without the 
loss of time. 

Reviews. — Time for reviews of the various lessons 
could be found by setting aside the regular lessons for 
some particular day, once a week, or once in two weeks ; 
and for composition, declamation, etc., a half day should 
be occasionally or periodically assigned. 

Models not to be Copied ; Teacher must Think. — 
If I have devoted considerable space to this subject, it 
is because I deem it of very great importance to the 
teacher's success. With one other remark I dismiss it. 



2^2 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

These models are not given to be servilely copied. They 
are given to illustrate the great principle. The circum- 
stances of schools will be found to vary so widely that 
no model, however, perfect in itself, would answer for 
all. The teacher must exercise his own ingenuity and 
judgment to meet his own wants; and in general it 
may be remarked that, where a teacher has not the skill 
to adapt his own plans to his own circumstances, he can 
hardly be expected to succeed in carrying out the plans 
of another. 

SECTIOK II. INTERRUPTION'S. 

Interruptions Unavoidable. — In every school consist- 
ing of pupils of different ages and circumstances, there 
will be more or less of interruption to the general order 
and employment of the school. Some of the pupils 
have never been trained to system at home; perhaps 
most of them may have been positively taught to dis- 
regard it at school. At any *rate, " it must needs be," 
in this particular, " that offences come." Nor should 
the teacher lose his patience, though he should be often 
disturbed by the thoughtlessness of his pupils. He 
should expect it as a matter of course, and exercise his 
ingenuity as far as possible to prevent it. It may well 
be one of his sources of enjoyment to witness an im- 
provement in the habits of his pupils in regard to sys- 
tem. 

Causes. — These interruptions proceed from various 
causes — such as soliciting leave to speak, or to go out; 
asking for some assistance in learning lessons, or for 
leave to drink, or to stand by the fire; requesting the 
teacher to mend pens, or to set copies; disorderly 
conduct in pupils, making it necessary, in his judg- 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 2}} 

ment, to administer reproof or punishment in the midst 
of other duties, — and sometimes the vociferous and 
impatient making of complaints by one scholar against 
another. 

A Scene- from Nature.— How many times I have 
seen a teacher involved in indescribable perplexity 
while trying to perform the duty of instruction, and 
to " get through " in time. While hearing a grammar 
lesson, a scholar brings up his atlas to have some place 
pointed out which he had upon one trial failed to find. 
The teacher, turning to look for the place, is addressed 
with, " Please mend my pen," from another quarter. 
Having the knife in hand, as if such things were to be 
expected, the obliging teacher takes the pen, and hold- 
ing it between his eyes and the atlas, endeavors to shape 
its nib and to discover the city at the same glance. 
"Jane keeps a-pinching me!" vociferates a little girl 
who is seated behind the class. " Jane, Jane!" says the 
teacher, turning away from both the nib and the city, 
"Jane, come to me instantly!" Jane with the guilty 
fingers thrust far into her mouth makes her way side- 
ling towards the teacher. "May I go out?" says 
John, who is thinking only of his own convenience. 
"No, no!" answers the teacher, a little pettishly, as if 
conscious that, in a crisis like this, a request simply to 
breathe more freely is scarcely justifiable. "Please, 
sir, let me and Charles go out and get a pail of water." 
This is said by a little shrewd - looking, round - faced, 
light -haired boy, who has learned how to select his 
time, and to place the emphasis upon the " please, sir." 
The teacher by this time, being considerably fretted by 
such an accumulation of business on his hands, very 
naturally thinks of the refreshment contained in a pail 



234 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

of cool water, and very good-naturedly answers the 
little nrcliin in the affirmatiye, who most likely is by 
this time more than half-way out of the door, so confi- 
dent is he of success. Just at this juncture a consid- 
erate-looking miss in the class earnestly appeals to the 
teacher to know if the word next but three to the last 
was not a common noun, though called a conjunction ! 
This reminds the teacher that several words have been 
parsed without his notice, and he asks the class to 
" stop there/' Glancing at his watch, he discovers that 
he has gone three minutes beyond the time for recess, 
and he relieves himself by saying, " Boys may go out." 
This grants a truce to all parties. The pen goes back 
unmended; the atlas with its sought city undiscovered; 
John '^ goes out " now by common law, taking to him- 
self the credit of this happy release, as he asked only to 
remind the master that it was time for recess; Jane 
takes both thumb and finger from her precious little 
mouth, and smiling seats herself by the side of her late 
challenger, who is by this time more than half repentant 
of her own impatience; the shrewd-looking urchin and 
his companion return with the refreshing pail of wa- 
ter; the boys and girls gather round to obtain the first 
draught, while the little chubby-faced lad comes for- 
ward, clothed in smiles, with a cup filled with the cool- 
ing liquid on purpose for the master; the boon is ac- 
cepted, the perplexed brow becomes placid, and all is 
sunshine again. This is not a very extravagant picture 
of the interruptions in a district school. Those who 
have been brought up in such a school will recognize 
the fidelity of the liheness, as it has been drawn from 
Nature. 
Lancaster's Motto. — Now whoever has any knowledge 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 235 

of human nature and of school-teaching will at once 
see that this is all wrong. It is a law of our being that 
we can do well but one thing at a time. He who 
attempts more must do what he attempts but very im- 
perfectly. There was a great deal of wisdom embodied 
in that motto which used to be placed in the old Lan- 
casterian schools: "A time for everythin'g, and 
EVERYTHii^^G I2f ITS TIME." It should be One of the 
mottoes of every teacher. In the construction of the 
plan or program for the day's duties, great care should 
be taken to provide for all these little things. If whis- 
pering is to be allowed at all in school, let it come into 
one of the intervals between recitations. If assistance 
in getting lessons is to be asked and rendered, let it be 
d one at a time assigned for the special purpose. As f al- 
as possible, except in extreme cases, let the discipline be 
attended to at the time of general exercise, or some 
other period assigned to it, so that there shall not be a 
ludicrous mixture of punishments and instruction dur- 
ing the progress of a class exercise. 

System Makes Teaching Delightful.— It is pleasant 
to visit a school, where everything is done, and well done, 
at its proper time. Teaching, under such circumstances, 
becomes a delightful employment. But where all is 
confusion, and the teacher allows himself by the ac- 
cumulation of irregularities to be oppressed and per- 
plexed, it is one of the most wearing and undesirable 
vocations on earth. The teacher goes to his lodgings 
harassed with care, oppressed with a consciousness of the 
imperfection of his labors, and exhausted by the unnat- 
ural and unwarrantable tax imposed upon his mental 
faculties. He groans under the burden incident to his 
calling, and longs to escape from, it; never once dreaming, 



2^6 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

perhaps, that he has the power of relieving himself by 
the introduction of system, and thus changing his former 
Baiel into a scene of quietness and order. 

SECTION III. EECESSES. 

How Often ?— In speaking of the arrangements of a 
school, the subject of recesses demands attention. It is 
the belief of many enlightened instructors that the con- 
finement in most of our schools is still too protracted, 
and that more time devoted to relaxation would be prof- 
itable both to the physical and mental constitution of 
our youth. Some have urged a recess of a few minutes 
every hour, in order to afford opportunity for a change 
of position and a change of air. This could better be 
done in schools composed only of one sex, or where the 
accommodation of separate yards and play grounds per- 
mits both sexes to take a recess at the same time. Where 
these accommodations are wanting, and one sex must 
wait while the other is out, the time required for two 
recesses in half a day, for the whole school, could 
scarcely be afforded. I am of the opinion, as our schools 
are at present composed, that one recess in the half day 
for each sex is all that can be allowed. The question 
then is, How can that one recess be made most conducive 
to the purposes for which it is designed ? 

As to the Duration of Recess. — Ten minutes is the 
least time that should be thought of, if the children are 
to be kept closely confined to study during the remainder 
of the three hours' session; that is, ten minutes for each 
sex. It would be a very desirable thing if our school- 
houses could be so furnished with separate play grounds 
and separate out-door accommodations that both sexes 
could take recess at the same time. This would save 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 2J7 

much time to the district in the course of a term, and 
it would also give opportunity for thoroughly ventilating 
the room during recess, while it would afford the teacher 
opportunity to take the air, and overlook the sports of 
the children to some extent— a matter of no small im- 
portance. 

Teacher's Work at Recess. — Where these facilities are 
wanting, and the teacher must remain within to preside 
over the one half of the school while the others are out^ 
he may still give ten minutes at least to each sex, con- 
triving to employ profitably the time within doors. He 
may reserve this time for settling such difficulties as may 
have arisen in the school; he may administer reproofs, 
inflict his punishments if any are necessary, or he may 
spend the time in giving assistance to the pupils, or in 
drawing upon the blackboard for the advantage of the 
younger pupils as they come in. In a large school, 
where a longer recess is the more necessary on account 
of the bad air of the schoolroom, he will find the more 
duty to be done at this time; so that in any event the 
time need not be lost, even if fifteen minutes be allowed 
to each sex. 

As to the Proper Hour for Recess It was an old rule 

to have recess when " school tvas half done." Indeed, 
this expression was often used as synonymous with recess 
in many districts twenty-five years ago. It is now gen- 
erally thought better to have the recess occur later, 
perhaps when the school session is two thirds past. It 
is found that children, accustomed to exercise all the 
morning can better bear the confinement of the first 
two hours than they can that of the third, even though 
the recess immediately precedes the third. In a school 
the half-daily sessions of which are three hours, I should 



2}S THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

recommend that the recess be introduced so as to termi- 
nate at the close of the second hour. As far as possible, 
it would be well to have all the pupils leave the room at 
the time recess is given them ; and, as a general thing, 
they should not ask leave to go out at any other time. 
A little system in this matter is as desirable as in any 
other, and it is quite as feasible. 

Young Children — In a school composed partly of 
very young children, there is no difficulty in giving 
such children two recesses each half day. Nor is there 
any objection to such a course. It is more irksome to 
young children to bear confinement, than to the adult, 
especially as they cannot be expected to be constantly 
occupied. It will relieve the teacher very much to have 
the children go out of the room as soon as they become 
fatigued, and, as it will promote their own health and 
happiness to go, it is very justifiable to grant them the 
privilege. This may properly and easily be provided for 
upon the program. 

SECTIOF IV. ASSIGNIITG LESSORS. 

Why Lessons Should not be Too Long. — Many 
teachers fail in this department. Judging of the diffi- 
culty of the lesson by the ease with which thep can ac- 
quire it, even in a text-book new to themselves, they 
not unfrequently assign more than can possibly be 
learned by the children. They forget that by long dis- 
cipline of mind, and by the aid of much previously ac- 
quired knowledge, the lesson becomes comparatively 
easy to them ; they forget, too, the toil a similar lesson 
cost them when they were children. Now the effect of 
poorly learning a lesson is most ruinous to the mind of 
a child. He, by the habit of missing, comes to think it 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 239 

a small thing to fail at recitation. He loses his self -re- 
spect. He loses h\\ regard for his reputation as a scholar. 
It is truly deplorable to see a child fail in a lesson with 
indifference. Besides, the attempt to acquire an unrea- 
sonable lesson induces a superficial habit of study— a 
skimming over the surface of things. The child studies, 
that he may live through the recitation; not that he 
may learn and remember. He passes thus through a 
book, and thinks himself wise while he is yet a fool — a 
mistake that is no less common than fatal. 

Not How Much, but How Well.— The motto of the 
wise teacher should be, " Not how much, but how 
WELL." He should always ask, is it possiUe that the 
child can master this lesson, and prohaUe that he loill ? 
It is better that a class should make but very slow prog- 
ress for several weeks, if they but acquire the habit of 
careful study and a pride of good scholarship, — a dread 
of failure, — than that they should ramble over a whole 
field, firing at random, missing oftener than they hit 
the mark, and acquiring a stupid indifference to their 
reputation as marksmen, and a prodigal disregard to 
their waste of ammunition and their loss of the game. 

Good Habits of Study. — In assigning lessons, the 
importance of good habits of study should be con- 
sidered, and the lessons given accordingly. At the 
commencement of a term, the lessons should always be 
short till the ability of the pupils is well understood 
and their habits as good students established. As the 
term progresses they can be gradually lengthened as 
the capacity of the class will warrant, or their own de- 
sire will demand. It is frequently judicious to consult 
the class about the length of the lessons, though to be 
sure their judgment cannot always be relied on, for they 



240 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

are almost always ready to undertake more than tliey 
can well perform. Assigning, however, somewhat less 
than they propose will take from them all excuse for 
failure. When the lesson is given, a failure should be 
looked upon as culpable dereliction of duty, as incom- 
patiable with a good conscience as it is with good 
scholarship. This high ground cannot be taken, how- 
ever, unless the teacher has been very judicious in the 
assignment of the lesson. 

SECTIOIS' V. KEVIEWS. 

Reviews Necessary.— In the prosecution of study by 
any class of students, frequent reviews are necessary. 
This is so, because the memory is very much aided by 
repetition and by association. But further, the under- 
standing is often very much improved by a review. 
Many of the sciences cannot be presented in independ- 
ent parts, nor can all the terms employed be fully ap- 
preciated till these parts are again viewed as a whole. 
Many things which were but dimly seen the first time 
they were passed over become perfectly clear to the 
mind when viewed afterwards in connection with what 
follows them. 

Why Frequent; Application of Principles to Prac- 
tical Life. — In conducting reviews, regard must be had 
to the age and character of the pupils and to the branch 
pursued. In arithmetic, and indeed in mathematics 
generally, where so much depends upon every link in 
the great chain, very frequent reviews are necessary. 
Indeed, almost daily it is profitable to call up some 
principle before gone over. In several branches, where 
the parts have a less intimate connection, as in geog- 
raphy, natural philosophy, and some others, the reviews 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 24 1 

may be at greater intervals. It would be well, I think, 
in every common school, to have a review-day once a 
week. This, besides the advantages already indicated, 
will lead the children to study for something beyond 
recitation. Kor is it enough, at the review that the 
questions of the text-book be again proposed to the 
children. If this be all, they will only exercise their 
memories. As far as possible the subject should be 
called up, and the application of principles to practical 
life should be dwelt upon. If this course is expected 
by the learners, they will tJiinIc during the week, in 
order to anticipate the examination of the teacher; and 
this think itig is more profitable to them than the knowl- 
edge itself. 

A General Review.— It is always well, besides the 
periodical reviews, to have a general review at the close 
of any particular study. This enables the teacher to 
detect any false conceptions which the pupil has enter- 
tained during the first course. He can now present the 
subject as a whole, and view one part by the light of 
another. In natural philosophy, how much better the 
law of reflected motion can be appreciated after the sub- 
ject of optics has been studied, in which the doctrine 
of reflection in general has been fully discussed and 
illustrated! In physiology, what light is thrown upon 
the process of growth in the system by the subsequent 
chapters on absorption and secretion! How much 
clearer is the economy of respiration understood when 
viewed in connection with the circulation of the blood ! 
A general review, then, is an enlightening process; and 
it is always profitable, with, perhaps, one exception. 
When it is instituted with reference to a public ex- 
amination, it is very doubtful whether the evil is not 



242 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

greater than the good. It then degenerates into an 
effort to appear well at a particular time; it is again 
studying in order to recite; and I look upon it as no 
small evil, that the mind should have any object in view 
which comes in between it and the grand desire to hnow 
— to master the subject for its own sake, and not simply 
for the purpose of being able to talk about it on one 
great occasion. 

SECTIOI^ VI. PUBLIC EXAMIITATIOKS. 

Examinations not without Objections. — It is now the 

usage in all our schools to have public examinations, — 
generally at the close of a term, or a portion of a term, — 
in order to test, in some measure, the industry and skill 
of the teacher and the proficiency of the pupils. I am 
hardly prepared to oppose this usage, because I am in- 
clined to believe examinations are of some utility as a 
means of awakening an interest in the parents of the 
children; perhaps they do something to stimulate school- 
officers, and also to excite to greater effort during the 
term both the teacher and the pupils. Still, public ex- 
aminations, as frequently conducted, are not without 
serious objectiofis. 1. They certainly cannot be looked 
upon as criterions of the faithfulness or success of 
teachers. A man witJi tact, and without honesty, may 
make his school appear to far greater advantage than a 
better man can make a better school appear. This has 
often happened. It is not the most faithful and thorough 
teaching that makes the show and attracts the applause 
at a public exhibition. It is the superficial, mechanical 
memoriter exercise that is most imposing. Who has not 
seen a class, that recited by rote and in concert at a cele- 
bration, win the largest approbation, when many of the 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 243 

individuals knew not the import of the words they 
uttered. Names in geography have been thus " said or 
sung," when the things signified were to the children as 
really terrce incognitce as the fairy lands of Sinbad the 
Sailor. 

Not to be Taken as Indices of Proficiency Nor can 

such exhibitions be claimed justly to indicate the pro- 
ficiency of the pupils. Every experienced teacher knows 
that the best scholars often fail at a public examination^ 
and the most indolent and superficial often distinguish 
themselves. The spectators, not unfrequently, in point- 
ing out the talent of the school, make the teacher smile 
at their blunders. 

Encourage Deception.— They present a strong tempta- 
tion to dishonesty on the part of the teacher. Since so 
much stress is laid upon the examination, and particu- 
larly, in some regions, upon the Celebration, where sev- 
eral schools are brought together to make a show for a 
few hours, it must be rather an uncommon man who 
will have sufficient principle to exhibit his school as it 
isy and refuse to make those efforts so very common to 
have it appear lohat it is not. The wish, expressed or 
implied, of the parents, and the ambition of the children, 
all conspire to make the teacher yield to a usage so com- 
mon. Consequently, several weeks will be spent to pre- 
pare the children to appear in public. During this time 
they study not for improvement, not for future useful- 
ness, but simply to make a show at the public celebration. 
An unworthy and unwarrantable motive actuates them 
during all this process; and, at last, unless strangely 
benighted, they are conscious of holding up a false 
appearance to the world. Now, under such circum- 
stances, whatever of good is effected, by way of enkin- 



244 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

dling a zeal in the parents, is dearly purchased. The 
sacrifice of principle in a teacher — much more in the 
children — is a large price to pay for the applause of a 
few visitors, or even for an increase of interest among 
them in the cause of popular education. 

Sometimes Useful. When ? — Examinations, however, 
which are less showy, and which are of such a character 
as thoroughly to sift the teachings that have been given, 
and to thwart any ingenious efforts specially to prepare 
for them — examinations that look back to the general 
teaching of the term, or the year, and test the accuracy 
and thoroughness of the instructions — are unquestion- 
ably very desirable and useful. To make them so in the 
highest sense, and to exempt them from an evil tendency 
upon the minds of the young themselves, the teacher 
sJiouId be strictly holiest, Not a lesson should be given 
with sole reference to the exhibition at the close; not 
an exercise should be omitted because the examination 
approaches. The good teacher should keep those great 
motives before the mind, which look to future usefulness, 
and to the discharge of duty. The child should be 
taught that he is accountable for what he acquires, and 
what he may acquire, and not for what he may appear 
to have acquired; and that this accountability is not 
confined to a single day, soon to pass and be forgotten; 
but it runs through all time and all eternity. 

Further Caution. — I know not but the expectation of 
an examination may stimulate some to greater exertion 
and make them better scholars. If this be so, it may be 
well enough; and yet I should be slow to present such a 
motive to the mind of a child, because a special or sec- 
ondary accountability always detracts from the general 
and chief. 



SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS. 2^5 

A strong reason, in addition to those already assigned, 
why special preparation should not be made for the ex- 
amination, is that where such preparation is expected 
the pupils become careless in their ordinary exercises. 

Teacher should be Honest. — While, then, I think too 
much stress is at present placed upon showy exhibitions 
and celebrations, and the objections and dangers attend 
examinations^ as frequently conducted, I would not 
recommend altogether their discontinuance. I would 
rather urge that the teacher, by his inflexible honesty, 
should make them fair representations of the actual con- 
dition of his school, without relying very much upon 
them as a means of stimulating the pupils to exertion; 
that the pupils should be made to feel that the results 
of their exertion through the term, rather than a few 
special efforts near its close, would be brought into re- 
view; that no hypocrisy or management should ever be 
tolerated, in order to win the applause of the multitude; 
that no particular lessons should ever be assigned for the 
occasion; that it should be remembered that the moral 
effect of an occasional failure at examination will be 
more salutary upon the school than unbroken success; 
and that the children are irreparably injured when they 
are made in any way the willing instruments of false 
pretension. 

Profitable Examinations. — Under such circum- 
stances, examinations may be profitable to all con- 
cerned. If teacher and pupils have done well, they 
have the opportunity of showing it without violence 
to their own consciences. The employers, and patrons, 
too, have some means of forming a correct estimate of 
the value of their school; and all parties may be en- 



246 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

courged and stimulated. But above all things, let the 

TEACHER BE HOKEST. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. (a) "Why is it necessary to have a fixed plan for the work 
of every school-day ? (b) Why for even the first day ? 

2. What would you do to make sure of a successful com- 
mencement in a new school ? 

3. What is to be said regarding prevalent practice of mak- 
ing derogatory remarks about a predecessor? Explain the 
dangers. 

4. How would you proceed to become acquainted with the 
pupils in a new school ? 

5. Why should the teacher always be early at the school 
and the last to leave it ? 

6. Mark out a plan for a first day's work in school. 

7. Write out a program for an ungraded elementary school. 

8. What studies should be placed on the program for the 
first hours of the day ? Why ? 

9. What occupations would you take up near the close of the 
afternoon session ? Why ? 

10. What should be the motto of the teacher as regards the 
division of work ? Why of particular importance in school ? 

11. What is your opinion regarding the number of recesses 
to be allowed in a day ? 

12. Why should every elementary school be allowed a recess 
of at least ten minutes in each half day ? 

13. Do you believe the abolition of recess to be a mistake? 
Why? 

14. What is the proper time for recess ? 

15. How would you conduct the recess to make sure of its 
proving a benefit for the children ? 

16. (a) Explain the need of frequent reviews in the studies. 
(b) How should they be conducted ? 

17. What is your opinion as to the value of public exami- 
nation ? 

18. Should pupils be promoted on the results of examina- 
tions ? Give reasons. 

19. Describe a profitable kind of examination. 

20. What is the object of learning ? 



THE TEACHER'S RELATION TO PARENTS. 247 



CHAPTEE XI. 

THE TEACHER^S RELATION TO THE PAR- 
ENTS OF HIS PUPILS. 

Talents and Private Character in a Clergyman.— 

In the choice of a clergyman, after estimating his moral 
and religious character, and ascertaining the order of his 
pulpit talents, a third question remains to be answered, 
viz. : What are his qualifications as a pastor 9 How is 
he adapted to fulfil the various relations of private 
friend and counsellor; and in the family circle, in his 
intercourse with the aged and the young, how is he 
fitted to 

*• Allure to brighter worlds and lead the way " ? 

In that sacred profession every one knows that nearly 
as much good is to be done by private intercourse as in 
the public ministration. Many a heart can be reached 
by a friendly and informal conversation, that would re- 
main unmoved by the most powerful eloquence from 
the pulpit. Besides, many are prepared to be profited 
in the public exercises by that intercourse in private 
which has opened their hearts, removed prejudice, and 
engendered a feeling of friendly interest in the preacher. 
The admonitions of the Gospel thus have the double 
power of being truth, and truth uttered by the lips of a 
valued friend. 

Social Qualities in a Teacher. — It is to some extent 
thus with the school teacher. He may be very learned 



248 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and very apt to teach, and yet fail of success in his 
district. Hence it is highly important that he should 
possess and carefully cultivate those social qualities, 
which will greatly increase his usefulness. The teacher 
should consider it a part of his duty, whenever he enters 
a district, to excite a deeper interest there among the 
patrons of the school than they have ever before felt. 
He should not be satisfied till he has reached every 
mind connected with his charge in such a way that 
they will cheerfully co-operate with him and sustain his 
judicious efforts for good. Being imbued with a deep 
feeling of the importance of his work, he should let 
them see that he is alive to the interests of their chil- 
dren. To this end, — 

1. The Teacher should Seek Frequent Opportunities 
of Intercourse with the Parents.— Though the advances 
toward this point, by the strict rules of etiquette, should 
be made by the parents themselves — (as by some it is 
actually and seasonably done) — ^yet, as a general thing, 
taking the world as we find it, the teacher must lead 
the way. He must often introduce himself uninvited 
to the people among whom he dwells, calling at their 
homes in the spirit of his vocation, and conversing with 
them freely about his duty to their children and to 
themselves. Every parent of course will feel bound to 
be courteous and civil in his own house; and, by such 
an interview, perhaps a difference of opinion, a pre- 
judice, or a suspicion may be removed, and the founda- 
tion of a mutual good understanding be laid, which 
many little troubles can never shake. It may be very 
useful to have an interview with such parents as have 
been disturbed by some administration of discipline 
upon members of their families. Let me not be under- 



THE TEACHBR'S RELATION TO PARENTS. 249 

s4;ood, however, to recommend that the teacher should 
ever go to the parent in a cringing, unmanly spirit. It 
would probably be far better that the parties should 
ever remain entire strangers, than that their meeting 
should necessarily be an occasion of humiliating retrac- 
tion on the part of teacher. Neither should the parents 
ever be allowed to expect that the teacher always will as 
a matter of duty come to their confessional. But it is 
believed, if there could be a meeting of the parties as 
men, as gentlemen, as Christians, as coadjutors for the 
child's welfare, it would always be attended with good 
results. 

2. The Teacher should be Willing to Explain all His 
Plans to the Parents of His Pupils. — If they had im- 
plicit confidence in him, and would readily and fully 
give him every facility for carrying forward all his 
designs without explanation, then, perhaps, this direc- 
tion might not be necessary. But as the world is, he 
cannot expect spontaneous confidence. They wish to 
know his designs, and it is best they should be informed 
of them by himself. The best way for the teacher to 
interest them in the business of education will be freely 
to converse with them concerning the measures he in- 
tends to adopt. If his plans are judicious, he of course 
can show good reasons why they should be carried into 
effect; and parents are generally willing to listen to 
reason, especially when it is directed to the benefit of 
their own children. Many a parent, upon the first 
announcement of a measure in school, has stoutly 
opposed it, who, upon a little explanatory conversation 
with the teacher, would entertain a very different 
opinion, and ever after would be most ready to counte- 
nance and support it. 



250 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Encourage Inquiry. — It seems to me a teacher may 
safely encourage inquiry into all his movements in 
school. There is an old saying — in my opinion a mis- 
chievous one — which enjoins it as a duty upon all, to 
" tell no tales out of school." I see no objection to the 
largest liberty in this matter. Why may not every- 
thing be told, if told correctly ? Parents frequently 
entertain a suspicious spirit as to the movements of 
the teacher. Would not very much of this be done 
away, if it was understood there was no mystery about 
the school! The teacher who would thus invite in- 
quiry would be very careful never to do anything which 
he would not be willing to have related to the parents, 
or even to be witnessed by them. I would have no ob- 
jection, if it were possible, that the walls of our school- 
rooms, as you look inward, should be transparent, so 
that any individual unperceived might view with his 
own eyes the movements within. The consciousness of 
such an oversight would work a healthy influence upon 
those who have too long delighted in mystery. 

3. The Teacher should Encourage Parents Frequently 
to Visit His School. — There is almost everywhere too 
great backwardness on the part of parents to do this 
duty. The teacher should early invite them to come in. 
It is not enough that he do this in general terms. He 
may fix the time, and arrange the party, so that those 
who would assimilate should be brought together. It 
will frequently be wise to begin with the mothers, where 
visitation has been unusual. They will soon bring in 
the fathers. As often as they come they will be bene- 
fited. When such visits are made, the teacher should 
not depart from his usual course of instruction on their 
account. Let all the recitations and explanations be at- 



THE TEACHER'S RELATION TO PARENTS. 25 1 

tended to, all praises and reproofs, all rewards and pun- 
ishments be as faithfully and punctually dispensed as if 
no person were present. In other words, let the teacher 
faithfully exhibit the school just as it is, its lights and 
its shadows, so that they may see all its workings, and 
understand all its trials as well as its encouragements. 

Such visitations under such circumstances, it is be- 
lieved, would ever be highly beneficial. The teacher's 
difficulties and cares would be better understood, and 
his efforts to be useful appreciated. The hindrances 
thus seen to impede his progress would be promptly re- 
moved, and the teacher would receive more cordial 
sympathy and support. 

Be Honest ; No False Pretences.— But if the teacher 
makes such visits the occasion for putting a false ap- 
pearance upon the school; if he takes to himself un- 
usual airs, such as make him ridiculous in the eyes of 
his pupils, and even in his own estimation; if he at- 
tempts to bring before the visitors his best classes, and 
to impress them with his own skill by showing off his 
best scholars, they will, sooner or later, discover his 
hypocrisy, and very likely despise him for an attempt 
to deceive them. 

4. The Teacher should be Frank in all His Represen- 
tations to Parents Concerning Their Children.— This is 
a point upon which many teachers most lamentably err. 
In this, as in every other case, " honesty is the best 
policy.'^ If an instructor informs a parent during the 
term that his son is making rapid progress, or as the 
phrase is — "doing very welV he excites in him high 
expectations; and if at the end of the term it turns out 
otherwise, the parent with much justice may feel that 
he has been injured, and may be expected to load him 



2^2 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

with censure instead of praise. Let a particular answer, 
and a true one, always be given to the inquiry — " How 
does my child get along ? " The parent has a right to 
know, and the fceacher has no right to conceal the truth. 
Sometimes teachers, fearing the loss of a pupil, have 
used some indefinite expression, which, however, the 
doting parent is usually ready to interpret to his child^s 
advantage. But sooner or later the truth will appear; 
and when the teacher is once convicted of any misrepre- 
sentation in this particular, there is rarely any forgive- 
ness for him. For this reason and for his own love of 
truth, for his own reputation and for the child's welfare, 
he should keep nothing back. He should tell the whole 
story plainly and frankly, — and the parent, if he is a 
gentleman, will thank him for his faithfulness to him; 
and if he has any sense of justice, he will be ready to 
co-operate with him for his child's improvement. At 
any rate such a course will ensure the reward of a good 
conscience. 

Be Modest The teacher, as I have before urged, 

should have the habits and manners of a gentleman. 
He should strive also to acquire the ability to converse 
in an easy and agreeable way, so that his society shall 
never be irksome. He, in other words, should be a man 
who does not require much entertaining. Modesty, 
withal, is a great virtue in the teacher; especially in his 
intercourse with the people of his district. Teachers, 
from their almost constant intercourse with their pupils 
are apt to think their own opinions infallible; and they 
sometimes commit the ridiculous error, of treating 
others wiser than themselves as children in knowledge. 
This infirmity, incident to the profession, should be care- 
fully avoided; and while the teacher should ever en- 



THE TEACHER'S RELATION TO PARENTS. 253 

deavor to make his conversation instructive, he should 
assume no airs of superior learning or infallible author- 
ity. He should remember the truth in human nature, 
that men are best pleased to learn without bein»g re- 
minded that they are learners. 

" Out-door Work.** — I have known some teachers, 
who have sneered at what they have termed, the " out- 
door work" here recommended. They have thrown 
themselves upon their dignity, and have declared that 
when they had done their duty within the schoolroom, 
they had done all that could be expected, and that 
parents were lound to co-operate with them, and sustain 
them. But, after all, we must take the world as we find 
it; and since parents do not always feel interested as 
they should, 1 hold it to be a part of the teacher's duty 
to excite their interest, and to win them to his aid by all 
the proper means in his power. In doing this, he will, 
in the most effectual way, secure the progress of his 
school, and at the same time advance his own personal 
improvement, 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Why should parents be encouraged to frequently visit the 
school ? 

2. What can the teacher do to secure the co-operation of 
parents ? 

3. What should be the object of the teacher's visits to 
parents ? 

4. Describe and show the effect of some mistakes that must 
be avoided in the intercourse with parents. 

5. {a) Why should the teacher strictly adhere to his usual 
course of instruction when the school has visitors ? (6) Men- 
tion and show the results of mistakes that are likely to be 
made on such occasions. 



254 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TEAOHEE^S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 

Teaching a Profession.— It has long been the opinion 
of the best minds in our country, as well as in the most 
enlightened countries of Europe, that teaching should 
be a profession. It has been alleged, and with much 
justice, that this calling, which demands for its success- 
ful exercise the best of talents, the most persevering 
energy, and the largest share of self-denial, has never 
attained an appreciation in the public mind at all com- 
mensurate with its importance. It has by no means 
received the emolument, either of money or honor, 
which strict justice would award in any other depart- 
ment to the talents and exertions required for this. 
This having been so long the condition of things, much 
of the best talent has been attracted at once to the other 
professions; or if exercised awhile in this, the tempta- 
tion of more lucrative reward, or of more speedy if not 
more lasting honor, has soon diverted it from teaching, 
v/here so little of either can be realized, to engage in 
some other department of higher promise. So true is 
this that scarcely a man can be found, having attained 
to any considerable eminence as a teacher, who has not 
been several times solicited — and perhaps strongly 
tempted — to engage in some more lucrative employ- 
ment; and while there have always been some strong 
men, who have preferred teaching to any other calling 
—men who would do honor to any profession^ and who, 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 255 

while exercising this, have found that highest of all re- 
wards, the consciousness of being useful to others, — 
still it must be confessed that teachers have too often 
been of just that class which a knowledge of the cir- 
cumstances might lead us to predict would engage in 
teaching ; men of capacity too limited for the other 
professions, of a temperament too sluggish to engage in 
the labors of active employment, of manners too rude to 
be tolerated except in the society of children(!), and 
sometimes of a morality so pernicious as to make them 
the unfailing contaminators of the young whenever per- 
mitted — not to teach— but to "keep school." Thus two 
great evils have been mutually strengthening each other. 
The indifference of the employers to the importance of 
good teachers, and their parsimony in meting out the 
rewards of teaching, have called into the field large 
numbers, in the strictest sense, unworthy of all reward; 
while this very unworthiness of the teachers has been 
made the excuse for further indifference, and if possible 
for greater meanness on the part of employers. Such 
has been the state of the case for many years past; and 
such is, to a great extent, the fact at present. 

Educational Millennium. — It has been the ardent 
wish of many philanthropists that this deplorable state 
of affairs should be exchanged for a better. Hence 
they have urged that teaching should be constituted a 
profession; that none should enter this profession but 
those who are thoroughly qualified to discharge the 
high trust ; and, as a consequence, that the people 
should more liberally reward and honor those who are 
thus qualified and employed. This would indeed be a 
very desirable change; it would be the educational mil- 



256 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

lennium of the world. For such a period we all may 
well devoutly pray. 
Different Views as to How it shall be Ushered in — 

But how shall this glorious age — not yet arrived — be 
ushered in ? By whose agency, and by what happy in- 
strumentality, must its approach be hastened ? Here, 
as in all great enterprises, there is some difference of 
opinion. Some have urged that the establishment of 
normal schools and other seminaries for the better edu- 
cation of teachers, and the institution of a more vigi- 
lant system of supervision, by which our schools should 
be effectually guarded against the intrusion of the igno- 
rant and inefficient teacher, is all that is necessary to 
bring in this brighter day. Others have zealously urged 
that such preparation and such supervision are entirely 
superfluous and premature in the present state of the 
public mind. They say that the public must first be- 
corue more liberal in its appropriations for schools ; it 
must at once double the amount it has been accustomed 
to pay to teachers, and thus secure, without further 
trouble, the best talent to this vocation. To this the 
former class reply, that the public has seldom been 
known to raise its price, so long as its wants could be 
supplied at the present rates. They say that the last 
century has afforded ample opportunity for the exhibi- 
tion of this voluntary generosity of the public, and yet 
we still wait to see this anomaly in human prudence, of 
offering in advance to pay double the price for the same 
thing; for until better teachers are raised up, it must 
be an advance upon the present stock. So there is a 
division among them, "for some cry one thing and some 
another.^^ 
A Mutual Evilj and a Mutual Remedy.— IsTow, I be- 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 257 

lieve, in this case as in most others, the truth lies be- 
tween the extremes. As the evil complained of is a 
mutual one, as has already been shown,— that is, an 
illiberal public has tolerated incompetent teachers, and 
the incompetence of teachers has enhanced in turn the 
parsimony of the public,— so the remedy must be a 
mutual one; the public must be enlightened and 
teachers must be improved; the pay of teachers must 
be raised, but there must be also something to warrant 
the higher rate. Nor is it easy to determine which 
shall begin first. We can hardly expect the people to 
pay more till they find an article worth more; nor, on 
the other hand, can we expect the teachers to incur any 
considerable outlay to improve themselves, until better 
encouragement shall be held out to them by their em- 
ployers. The two must generally proceed together. 
Just as, in the descending scale, there was a mutual 
downward tendency, so here better service will com- 
mand better pay, and in turn the liberality of em- 
ployers will stimulate the employed to still higher at- 
tainments in knowledge and greater exertions in their 
labors. 

Duty of the Teacher.— In this condition of things, 
the question recurs. What is the duty of teachers in re- 
lation to their calling ? I answer, they are bound to do 
what they can to elevate it. Lord Bacon said, " Every 
man owes a debt to his profession." Teachers being 
supposed to be more intelligent than the mass of the 
community, may justly take the lead in the work of 
progress. They should, as a matter of dvtyf take hold 
of this work, — a work of sacrifice and self-denial as it 
will be, at least for some time,— and heartily do what 
they can to magnify their office and make it honorable. 



258 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

In the mean time they may do what they can to arouse 
the people to a sense of their duty. The more en- 
lightened are to some extent with them already. The 
press, the pulpit, the legislative assemblies, all proclaim 
that something must be done. All admit the faithful 
teacher has not been duly rewarded, and some are found 
who are willing to do something for the improvement 
both of the mind and condition of the teacher. This is 
encouraging; and while we rejoice at the few gleams of 
light that betoken our dawning, let us inquire, for a little 
space, how we can hasten* the " coming in of the perfect 
day." 

SECTION I. SELF-CULTUEE. 

Self -improvement. — The teacher should labor dili- 
gently to improve himself. This is a duty incumbent 
on all persons, but particularly upon die teacher. The 
very nature of his employment demands that his mind 
should be frequently replenished from the storehouses 
of knowledge. To interest children in their studies, 
how necessary is it that the teacher^s mind should be 
thoroughly furnished with the richest thoughts of the 
wise; to inspire them with a desire to learn, how im- 
portant that he should be a living example of the ad- 
vantage and enjoyment which learning alone can be- 
stow; to strew the path of knowledge with flowers, and 
thus make it the path of pleasantness, how desirable 
that he should abound with the aptest illustrations 
drawn from all that is wonderful and curious in nature 
and art; to awaken the young mind to a consciousness 
of its capacities, its wants, its responsibilities, how 
thoroughly should he know all the workings of the 
human soul, — how wisely and carefully should he touch 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 259 

the springs of action, — how judiciously should he call to 
his aid the conscience and the religious feelings ! 

Example. — Besides, let it be remembered that in this 
as in other things, the teacher's example is of great im- 
portance. The young will be very likely to judge of 
the importance of their own improvement by the esti- 
m_ate the teacher practically places upon his; nor can he 
with any good grace press his puj)ils to exertion, while 
mthey see that he makes none whatever himself. 

Temptations to Self-neglect. — There is great danger, 
in the midst of the confinement and fatigue of the 
schoolroom, and the pressure of anxiety and care out 
of school, that the teacher will yield to the temptations 
of his position, and fall into habits of indolence as to 
his own improvement. Compelled, as he often is, to 
labor at great disadvantage, by reason of a small and 
poorly furnished schoolroom; confined through the day 
from the sunshine and the fresh breeze; subjected to a 
constant pressure of duty amid untold trials of his pa- 
tience, arising from the law that impels children to be 
active as well as inconsiderate; required to concentrate 
his powers upon the double duty of governing and 
teaching at the same instant, and all through the ses- 
sion, — it is not strange, when the hour of release comes, 
that he should seek rest or recreation at the nearest 
point, even to the neglect of his own mental or moral 
culture. I am of the opinion that this accounts for the 
fact that so many persons enter the work of instruction, 
and continue in it for a longer or shorter period, with- 
out making the slightest progress either in the art of 
teaching or in their own intellectual growth. Their 
first school indeed is often their best. This tendency 
or temptation, incident to the calling, it i& the teacher^s 



26o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

duty constantly and man fully to resist. He can do 
it, 

1. The Teacher Has Time — He lias the time to do it. 
He is usually required to spend but six hours in the day 
in the schoolroom. Suppose he add two hours more for 
the purpose of looking over his l6ssons and devising 
plans for improving his school, — he will .still have six- 
teen hours for sleep, exercise, recreation, and improve- 
ment. Eight hours are sufficient for sleep, especially 
for a sedentary man (some say less), and four will pro- 
vide for meals, exercise, and recreation. Four still re- 
main for improvement. Any teacher who is systematic 
and economical in the use of his time can reserve for 
the purpose of his own improvement four hours in 
every tioentyfour, and this v/ithout the slightest detri- 
ment to his school duties or to his health. To be sure 
he must lead a regular life. He must have a plan, and 
systematically follow it. He must be punctual^ at his 
school, at his meals, at his exercise or recreation, at his 
hour of retiring and rising, and at his studies. Nor 
should he ordinarily devote more time than I have men- 
tioned directly to his school. He should labor with his 
whole soul while he does work, and he will the more 
heartily do this, if he has had time to think of some- 
thing else during the season of respite from labor. It 
is a great mistake that teachers make when they think 
they shall be more successful by devoting all theit 
thoughts to their schools. Very soon the school comes 
to occupy their sleeping as well as waking hours, and 
troublesome dreams disturb the repose of night. Such 
men must soon luear out. 

But according to the laws of our nature, by a change 
of occupation, the jaded faculties find rest. By taking 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 26 1 

up some new subject of inquiry, the intellect is relieved 
from the sense of fatigue which before oppressed it; the 
thoughts play freely again, the animation returns, the 
eye kindles, and the mind expands. 

'Z. Immediate Reward. — Such labor finds immediate 
reward. The consciousness of growth is no small thing 
towards encouraging the teacher. He feels that he is no 
longer violating his nature by allowing himself to stag- 
nate. Then he will find every day that he can apply the 
newly-acquired truth to the illustration of some principle 
he is attempting to teach. He has encouraging and 
immediate proof that he is a better teacher, and that he 
has made himself so by timely exertion. He is thus 
again stimulated to rise above those temptations before 
described— this immediate availability of his acquire- 
ments being vouchsafed to the teacher, as it is not to 
most men, in order to prompt him to stem the current 
which resists his progress. 

How to Improve.— And now, if I have shown that a 
teacher is bound to improve himself, both from a regard 
to his own well-being and the influence of his example 
upon others, — and if I have also shown that he can im- 
prove himself, I may be indulged in making a few sug- 
gestions as to the manner of his doing it. 

1. He should have a Course of Professional Read- 
ing. — It will do much for his improvement to read the 
works of those who have written on the subject of edu- 
cation and the art of teaching. If possible he should 
collect and possess a small educational library. It will 
be of great service to him to be able to read more than 
once such suggestions as are abundantly contained in 
the " Teacher's Manual," by Palmer; the *'' School and 
Schoolmaster," by Potter and Emerson; the "Teacher," 



262 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

by Abbott; tlie " Teacher Tan glit," by Davis; "Lectures 
on Schoolkeeping/' by Hall; "The Common School 
Journal," " Secretary's Eeports," and " Lectures," by 
Horace Mann; the " Connecticut Common School Jour- 
nal," and " Journal of the Rhode Island Institute," by 
H. Barnard; the "District School Journal" of New 
York, by Francis Dwight and others; the " Lectures of 
the American Institute of Instruction; " the " School- 
master's Friend," by T. Dwight; the "District School," 
by J. Orville Taylor; the "Teacher's Advocate," by 
Cooper; the writings, if they can be obtained, of Wyse, 
of Cousin, of Lalor, of Lord Brougham on Education, 
together wibh such other works as are known to contain 
sound and practical views. It is not to be expected that 
every teacher will possess all these, or that he will read 
them all in a single term. But it is well to hold con- 
verse with other minds, and to have it in our power to 
review their best thoughts whenever our own need re- 
freshing. I have given a somewhat extended list of books, 
because the inquiry is now so often made by teachers 
what they shall read. 

2. By Pursuing Systematically a Course of General 
Study. — Many teachers who have a desire to improve 
themselves, still fritter away their time upon little mis- 
cellaneous matters, without making real progress. It is 
well in this to have a plan. Let some one study, — it 
may be geology, or astronomy, or chemistry, or botany, 
or the pure mathematics, — let some one study receive 
constant attention till no mean attainments have been 
made in it. By taking one thing at a time and diligently 
pursuing it, at the end of a term the teacher feels that 
he has something to show for his labor, — and he is, by 
the advance already made, prepared to take the next 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 26^ 

and more difficult step. In a course of years, while a 
neighbor who began teaching at the same time, has been 
stagnating or even retrograding for the want of a plan 
and a purpose, a diligent man, by system and persever- 
ance, may make himself at least equal to many who have 
enjoyed better advantages in early life, and at the same 
time have the superadded enjoyment of feeling that he 
has been his own teacher. 

3. Keep a Journal or Common-place Book — The habit 
of composing daily is very valuable to the teacher. In 
this book he may record whatever plans he has devised 
with their results in j)ractice. He may enter remarkable 
cases of discipline — in short, anything which in the 
course of his practice he finds interesting. Those valu- 
able suggestions which he receives from others, or hints 
that he may derive from books, may be epitomized here, 
and thus be treasured up for future reference. Some- 
times one's best thoughts fade from his own mind, and 
he has no power to recall them. Such a book would 
preserve them, and would moreover show the character 
of one's thoughts at any particular period, and the prog- 
ress of thought, from one period to another, better than 
any other means. * 

Chosen Subjects. — To these means of self-culture I 
would add the practice of carefully reading and writing 
on chosen subjects, more fully described in the chapter 
on " Habits of the Teacher." 

Encouragement to Others. — By all these means and 
such others as may come within his reach, if a teacher 
succeeds in his attempts at progress, he does much for 

* For further remarks on the Common-place Book, see chap. yii. 
p. 108. note. 



264 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Ms profession. The very fact that he has given practi- 
cal demonstration that a man may teach and still im- 
prove; that the temptations of his profession may be 
resisted and overcome; that the life of the pedagogue 
which has required him to keep the company of small 
minds, and to be occupied with minute objects, has 
never prevented his holding communion with the great- 
est men our earth has known, nor circumscribed in the 
least the sphere of his grasping research, — I say the very 
fact that he has thus shown what a man may do under 
such circumstances, may do much to encourage others 
to like effort. 

But there are other and direct duties which he owes 
to his profession, which I proceed to consider under the 
head of 

SECTION II. MUTUAL AID. 

Selfishness. — Every teacher should be willing to im- 
part as well as to receive good. No one, whatever may 
be his personal exertions, can monopolize all the wisdom 
of the world. The French have a proverb that " Every- 
body is wiser than anybody." Actiug on this principle, 
the teacher should be willing to bring his attainments 
into the common stock, and to diffuse around him, as 
far as he is able, the light he possesses. I have no lan- 
guage with which to express my abhorrence of that 
selfishness which prompts a man, after attaining to 
some eminence as a teacher by the free use of all the 
means within his reach, self -complacently to stand aloof 
from his fellow-teachers, as if he would say: " Brethren, 
help yourselves — I have no need of you, and you have 
no claim upon me. I have toiled hard for my emi- 
nence, and the secret is with me. I will enjoy it alone. 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 265 

When you have toiled as long, you may be as wise. 
Brethren, help yourselves." Such a spirit would per- 
haps be tolerated by the world in an avaricious man, 
who had labored to treasure up the shining dust of 
earth. But no man may innocently monopolize knowl- 
edge. The light of the sun is shed in golden refulgence 
upon every man, and no one if he would, may separate 
a portion for his own exclusive use by closing his shut- 
ters about him — for that moment his light becomes 
darkness. It is thus with the light of knowledge. 
Like the air we breathe, or like the rain from heaven, 
it should be free to all. The man who would lock up 
the treasures of learning from the gaze of the whole 
world, whether in the tomes of some dusty library, as of 
old it was done, or in the recesses of his narrower soul, 
is unworthy of the name of man; he certainly has not 
the spirit of the teacher. 

An Exclusive Spirit without Excuse.— An exclusive 
spirit may be borne where meaner things, as houses, 
and lands, and gold, are at stake; but in education and 
religion, — light and love, — where giving doth not im- 
poverish nor withholding make rich, there is not even 
the shadow of an excuse for it. The man who is ex- 
clusive in these things would be so, I fear, in heaven. 

How can Teachers Encourage Each Other ? 
1. By Mutual Visitation. —Very much may be done 
by social intercourse. Two teachers can scarcely con- 
verse together an hour without benefiting each other. 
The advantages of intercourse with friends, as delineated 
by Dr. Young, may not be denied to teachers. 

" Hast thou no frieud to set thy mind abroach ? 
Good sense will stagnate. Thoughts shut up want air, 



266 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

And spoil like bales unopened to the sun. 

Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied. 

********* 
Thought, too, delivered, is the more possessed: 
Teaching, we learn ; and giving, we retain 
The births of intellect ; when dumb,forgot. 
Speech ventilates our intellectual fire ; 
Speech burnishes our mental magazine. 
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use." 

Even One^s Faults may Instruct Us. — But not only 
should teachers visit one another — it is profitable also 
for them to visit each other's schools. I have never 
spent an hour in the school of another without gaining 
some instruction. Sometimes a new way of illustrating 
a difficult point, sometimes an exhibition of tact in 
managing a difficult case in discipline, sometimes an 
improved method of keeping up the interest in a class^ 
would suggest the means of making my own labors the 
more successful. And even should one's neighbor be a 
bad teacher, one may sometimes learn as much from 
witnessing glaring defects as great excellences. Some 
of the most profitable lessons I have ever received have 
been drawn from the deficiencies of a fellow-teacher. 
We seldom "see ourselves as others see us;" and we 
are often insensible of our own faults till we have seen 
them strikingly exhibited by another, and then by a 
comparision we correct our own. 

Imparting Good. — Besides, by a visitation of a friend's 
school we may not only receive good, but we may im- 
part it. If there is mutual confidence, a few words may 
aid him to correct his faults, if he has any — faults which 
but for such suggestion might grow into confirmed 
habits, to his permanent injury. 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 267 

Teachers' Meetings.— So important is this mutual 
visitation among teachers as a means of improvement, 
that I doubt not employers would find it for their inter- 
est to encourage it by allowing the teachers to set apart 
an occasional half day for this purpose. 

Their Use. — It would, moreover, be very useful for 
the teachers of a town to hold stated meetings, as often 
as once a month, for the purpose of mutual improve- 
ment. It would cultivate a fellow-feeling among them, 
and it would afford them an opportunity to exchange 
thoughts on most of the difficulties which they meet in 
their schools, and the best methods of surmounting 
them. At these meetings a mutual exchange of books 
on the subject of teaching would extend the facilities 
of each for improving his own mind and his own 
methods of instruction and government. 

2. By the Use of the Pen. — Every teacher should 
be a ready writer. Nearly every teacher could gain ac- 
cess to the columns of some paper, through which he 
could impart the results of his experience, or of his re- 
flection. Such a course would benefit him specially, 
and at the same time it would awaken other minds to 
thought and action. In this way the attention, no-t 
only of teachers but parents, would be called to the 
great work of education. One mind in this way might 
move a thousand. If a teacher does not feel qualified to 
instruct, let him inquire, and thus call out the wisdom 
of others. This could be done in nearly every village. 
The press is almost always ready to promote the cause 
of education. By the use of it, teachers may profitably 
discuss all the great questions pertaining to their duty, 
and at the same time enlighten the community in which 



268 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

they live. This is an instrumentality as yet too little 
employed. 

By Teachers' Associations, or Institutes.— These are 
peculiarly adapted to the dift'iision of the best plans of 
instruction. Kightly conducted, they can never fail of 
being useful. Every man who lectures or teaches is 
profited by the preparation. If he is a man of wisdom 
and experience, he will benefit his hearers. If other- 
wise, the discussion, which should ever follow a lecture, 
will expose its fallacies. It has often happened in such 
associations that an honest and experienced man has, in 
a half hour, given to the younger portion of the mem- 
bers lessons of wisdom which it would take them years 
to learn by their own observation. Errors in principle 
and practice have been exposed, into which many a 
young teacher was unconsciously falling, and hints have 
been given to the quicker minds by which their own 
modes of teaching and governing have been speedily 
improved. 

Should be Practical. — As far as possible, such meetings 
should be made strictly practical. The older teachers, 
who usually have the most to do with the management 
of them, should bear in mind that they are mainly de- 
signed to diffuse practical ideas of teaching, particularly 
among the younger members. Too often these meet- 
ings are made the arena of debate upon questions of 
very little practical importance to the teacher. I have 
seen a body of men spend an entire session of a half day 
in discussing a series of overwrought resolutions, upon 
some topic scarcely at all connected with any duty of the 
teacher, frequently leaving the main question to wrangle 
about some point of order, or of "parliamentary usage;" 
and after the resolutions were passed or rejected, as the 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 269 

case might — (and it was of very little consequence 
whether " carried " or " lost ") — the ladies and younger 
teachers who had borne no part in the talk would find 
it difficult to tell " wherefore they had come together." 
Nothing had been said or done by which they could be 
aided in their schools. Lecturers, too, have frequently 
mistaken their aim. Ambitious to shine out as literary 
men, they have given orations instead of practical les- 
sons. In these meetings, it seems to me, nothing osten- 
tatious, nothing far-fetched, is what we need; but rather 
the modes and experience of practical men. We need 
to come down to the schoolroom, to the every-day busi- 
ness of the teacher, and thus prepare him to do his 
work more successfully on his return to his duties. 

Encouragement by Meeting Friends. — Another, and 
no inconsiderable advantage of such associations, is that 
the teacher gains encouragement and strength by being 
thus brought in contact v/ith others engaged in the 
same pursuit. Toiling on alone in his isolated district, 
surrounded by obstacles and discouragements, weighed 
down by care, and finding none to sympathize with him, 
he is almost ready to faint in his course, and perhaps to 
abandon his calling. At this crisis he reads the notice 
for the teachers' meeting, and he resolves to go up once 
more to the gathering of his friends. From the various 
parts of the county, from the populous and crowded 
city, and from the byways of the (country - towns, a 
goodly number collect together and greet each other. 
Smile answers to smile, the blood courses more freely 
through the veins, the spirits long depressed perhaps, 
partake of the general glow, and each feels that he is 
not toiliiig alone. He feels that a noble brotherhood of 
kindred spirits are laboring in the same field, under 



270 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

trials and discouragements similar to those whicli have 
oppressed him. He derives new strength from the 
sympathy of friends. 

Light Breaks in. — A 'j^rofessional feeling is engen- 
dered, which will accompany him to his schoolroom; 
and when he goes home, it is with renewed vigor and 
fresh aspirings to be a better man and a better teacher. 
He labors with more confidence in himself; and, en- 
lightened by what he has seen and heard, he is far 
more successful than before. His pupils, too, respond 
to the new life they see enkindling in him, and go to 
their work more cheerfully. One difficulty after an- 
other vanishes, and he begins to think teaching, after 
all, is not the imrd employment in the world, but that 
it has some flowers as well as thorns, and he concludes 
to remain in the profession. This has been the history 
of at least one man. Long may many others have occa- 
sion to exercise gratitude like his for the enjoyment of 
similar privileges.' 

Cautions. — I ought not to leave this subject without 
a word or two of caution. 

* The Essex County Teacheks' Association, in Massachu- 
setts, was first orgauized in 1839, and for seventeen years its meet- 
ings of two days each have been held semi-annually, and usually 
very fully attended. This association has wrought an untold 
amount of usefulness by its improvement and encouragement of 
the teachers of that county, and at this time it continues to dif- 
fuse its wonted blessings. A more intelligent and devoted body 
of teachers cannot be found in the United States than those who 
now compose that association. Long may it continue to irradi- 
ate its glorious light, and long may its devoted members enjoy 
the well - merited confidence of the community in which they 
labor I 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 27 1. 

1. Be Honest. — In all your interconrse with your fel- 
low-teachers, be careful to use the words of "truth 
and soberness." In stating your experience, never allow 
your fancy to embellish your facts. Of this there is 
great danger. The young are sometimes tempted to tell 
a good story; but a deviation from the truth — always 
perilous, and always wrong — may be peculiarly disas- 
trous here. Experience overstated may egregiously 
mislead the unwary inquirer after truth. Never over- 
color the picture; it is better to err on the other side. 

Every-day Practice — So, likewise, in exhibiting your 
school to fellow-teachers, be strictly honest. They come 
to learn from your every-day practice, and not from a 
counterfeit; and whenever you dress your school in a 
showy garb to win the applause of a fellow-teacher, 
you do him a great injustice. You may not please your 
friend so much by your ordinary mode as by something 
assumed for the occasion; but you may profit him far 
more, and in the end you lose nothing by pursuing the 
line of duty. 

" Nothing Extraordinary.'*— I well remember that 
a somewhat distinguished teacher once visited my own 
school, who on going away expressed himself somewhat 
disappointed, because he did not see anything "extraor- 
dinary" as he said, in my mode of procedure. The 
truth was, nothing extraordinary was attempted. He 
saw' what I wished to show him — an ordinary day's work; 
for I had before that time imbibed the opinion that a 
man's j^eputation will be more firmly established by sus- 
taining every day a fair mediocrity than it ever can be 
by an attempt to outdo himself on a few special oc- 
casions. As the value of biographical writing is often 
very much diminished because the writer has en- 



272 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

deavored to paint his character too perfect to he Tiuman^ 
so these visitations will lose their utility whenever, by 
substituting hollow pretension for sober reality, the 
teacher endeavors to exhilit such a school as he does 
not daily heep. 

2. Avoid Servile Imitation of Any Model. — It is 
often remarked that every man's plan is the best for 
him, and that many besides David can never fight in 
Saul's armor. This is generally true. All experience, 
then, should be considered in connection with the cir- 
cumstances under which it was tried, never forgetting 
the character and genius of the person who relates it. 
What might succeed in his hand may fail in yours — 
particularly as you will lack the interest of an original 
inventor. 

Adapt Rather than Adopt Another's Plans. — The 
true secret lies in listening to the views of all, and then 
in making a judicious combination to meet your own 
character and your own circumstances. It is often 
better to adjust and adapt the plan of another than to 
adopt it. Servile imitation precludes thought in the 
teacher, and reduces him to a mere machine. The most 
successful teachers I have ever known were those who 
would listen attentively to the plans and experience of 
others, and then strike out a course for themselves— at- 
tempting that, and that only, which they were confident 
they could successfully execute. 

3. Avoid Undue Self-sufficiency — Men usually cease 
to learn when they fhink they are wise enough. The 
teacher is in danger of falling into this error. Moving 
for the most part among children, where his decisions 
are seldom questioned, he is very apt to attach undue 
importance to his own opinions. Such a man meets his 



TEACHER'S RELATION TO HIS PROFESSION. 273 

fellows with much self-complacency, and is but poorly 
prepared to be profited by the views of others. But the 
teacher should never cease to be teachable. There are 
very few men too old or too wise to learn something; 
and they are the wisest, if not the oldest, who are willing 
to welcome a real improvement, even though it should 
come from comparative " babes and sucklings," out of 
whose mouths God has sometimes perfected praise, 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Show that the teacher is constantly in need of self- 
improvement. 

2. Of what advantage to the teacher is the study of science, 
art, and literature? 

3. What should form the principal study of the educator? 

4. How can the teacher find time for study outside of his 
regular work ? 

5. Mark out a course of professional reading for a young 
teacher. 

6. Of what value is the keeping strict account of successes 
and failures in teaching? 

7. What is the object of teachers* meetings ? 

8. How should teachers encourage each other? 

9. Of what benefit to teachers are visits to each others' 
schools ? 

10. How may a professiorml feeling be cultivated among 
teachers ? 

11. What rules should be observed in visits to other schools ? 
13. How can one become a professional teaclier ? 



274 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIOlSrS. 

Miscellaneous Hints.— On looking oyer the notes 
which 1 have at various times made of my own ex- 
perience and observation, during twenty years of practi- 
cal teaching, I find there are several thoughts which 
may be of some service to the young teacher, and which 
have not been introduced under any of the general topics 
of this volume. I have therefore thought best to in- 
troduce a special chapter, with the above title, where I 
might lawfully bring together, without much regard to 
method, such varied hints as may convey to some reader 
a useful lesson. Some of these hints will refer to faults 
which should be carefully avoided, while others will 
point out some duties to be performed, 

SECTION I. THINGS TO BE AVOIDED. 

1. Prejudice. — Guard against 2^rejudice on entering a 
scJwoI. It is not always safe to rely upon first impres- 
sions as to character. At the opening of a school, per- 
haps fifty individuals for the first time are brought 
before the teacher. Some of them are from humble 
life, and perhaps bear upon them the marks of parental 
neglect. Their persons and their clothing may present 
nothing to attract and gratify the eye of a stranger. 
Little accustomed to society, they exhibit an awkward 
bashfulness or an impertinent forwardness in their 
manner. Contrasted with these, others appear who have 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 275 

been the children of indulgence, and who have seen 
much more of the world. A more expensive garb at- 
tracts the eye; a more easy and familiar address, con- 
forming to the artificial modes of society, is very likely 
to win the heart. The teacher is very prone to find his 
feelings committed in favor of the latter class and 
against the former. But this is all wrong. A judgment 
thus hastily formed is extremely hazardous, as a few 
days' acquaintance will usually show. The child of 
blunt or shy demeanor often has the truest heart, — a 
heart whose sentiments go out by the shortest course, — 
a heart that has never learned the artificial forms of the 
world, because it has never felt the need of them. And 
how unjust to the child is a prejudice founded on the 
circumstance of dress ! Must the inability or neglect 
of his parent be doubly visited on him ? Is it not 
enough that he daily feels the inward mortification of a 
contrast with his more favored school-fellows? Must 
he be painfully reminded of it by discovering that his 
teacher repels him on that account, and bestows his 
kindliest smiles upon those who are "the brightest and 
best clad? " 

Favored Pupils. — And yet such unjust prejudice is 
common. Wrong and unfeeling as it is, it is too com- 
mon. A fine dress, and a clean face, and a graceful 
manner, I know are attractive; but the teacher has to 
do with the mind and the heart; and he should never 
be deterred by anything exterior from making a dili- 
gent and patient search for good qualities which have 
their home behind the surface; and he should ever 
possess a smile as cordial and a tone as parental for the 
neglected child of poverty and ignorance as for the 
more favored son of wealth and ease, 



276 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

2. Weakness. — Do not alloiu your pupils to direct 
their own stiulies. Whatever their age may be, they 
are seldom capable of doing this. It is the aim of the 
young to get over a long course of study. They are 
usually pleased to belong to higher classes before they 
have mastered the branches taught in the lower. If 
children are suffered to direct their own studies, they 
usually make themselves very poor scholars. This is 
the bane of many of our select schools and academies, 
where the teacher yields this right in order to secure 
pupils and a salary. But no one, not even the parent, 
is as competent as the teacher ought to be to direct in 
this matter. He has the best opportunity daily to fa- 
thom the pupiFs attainments and to understand his 
deficiencies. He may claim the right to direct. In 
case the pupil withstands his decision, the teacher 
should appeal to the parent, and endeavor there to 
sustain his point — a thing generally within his power, if 
indeed he is right. ' If the parent too is obstinate, and 
firmly insists upon the wrong course, the teacher may 
perhaps submit, though he cannot submit without the. 
consciousness that his province has been invaded. 

A Mistake. — It is too frequently the case that the 
teacher at the first yields all this ground voluntarily, by 
asking the children what they wish to study. When he 
has once made them a party in this question, he need 
not wonder if they claim to be heard. This he should 
not do. He should first be sure that he is qualified to 
direct aright, and then, as a matter of course, proceed 
to do it, jast as the physician would prescribe for the 
physical malady of such a child. The latter is not more 
the rightful duty of the physician than the former is of 
the school-teacher. Neither has the power to enforce 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 277 

his prescription against the parents' consent; but that 
consent may be taken for granted by both till informed 
that it is withheld. 

An Egregious Evil in All Schools.— I may here re- 
mark that in all my intercourse with the young, whether 
in the common or the higher school, I have found no 
greater evil than that of proceeding to the more difficult 
branches before the elementary studies have been mas- 
tered. It is no uncommon thing to find those who have 
''attended" to the higher mathematics— algebra, ge- 
ometry, and the like — whose reading and writing are 
wretched in the extreme, and whose spelling is abso- 
lutely intolerable ! They have been pursuing quadratics, 
but are unable to explain why they " carry one for every 
ten;" they have wandered among the stars in search 
of other worlds, by the science of astronomy, without 
knowing the most simple points" in the geography of 
our 'own; they have studied logarithms and infinite 
series, but cannot be safely trusted to add a column of 
figures, or to compute the simple interest upon a com- 
mon note! In short, they have studied everything y 
except what is most useful to be known in practical 
life, and have really learned — ^lotJiing ! 

The Remedy. — Now if this evil — grievous and ex- 
tensive as it is at present — is destined ever to be abated, 
it is to be accomplished by the instrumentality of the 
teacher, acting, in his appropriate sphere, in the capac- 
ity of a director as to the course of study for the young. 
He must not be a man who can merely teacli, but one 
who understands the high import of a true education, 
and knows how to prescribe the order of its progress; 
one, in short, who will never attempt to erect a showy 
superstructure upon an insufficient foundation. 



278 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

3. ** Too Many Irons.**— Z>o not attempt to teach too 
many things. There is a tendency at present to intro- 
duce too many things into all our schools. Nothing is 
more common than to hear our public lecturers declare, 
as they become a little enthusiastic in any given depart- 
ment, that " this branch should at once be made a study 
in our common schools." This is heard of almost the 
whole round of the natural sciences. But it seems to 
me to be dictated hy overwrought enthusiasm. Every- 
thing cannot be -well taught in our schools', nor should 
too much be attempted. It is the province of our 
schools — particularly our common schools — to afford 
thorough instruction in a few things, and to awaken' a 
dedre for more extended attainment. The instruction 
given should, as far as possible, be complete in itself, 
while it should afford the means of making further 
advancement; but that instruction which, being merely, 
superficial, neither itself informs the mind nor imparts 
the desire and the means of future self-improvement, is 
worse than useless; it is positively injurious. A few 
branches thoroughly possessed are worth more than a 
thousand merely glanced at; and the idea of changing 
our common schools to universities where our children, 
before they pass from the years of their babyhood, are 
to grasp the whole range of the sciences, is one of the 
most preposterous that has grown up even in this age 
of follies. The teacher, then, should not undertake too 
much; he should be sure that he can accomplish what 
he undertakes. The warh he makes iqoon the young 
should he no uncertain sign, 

<* Mind Your Business.** — Never attend to extraneous 
business in school-hours. This is a common fault. 
Many teachers neglect their duties in school to write 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 279 

letters, or transact such other business as should be 
4one at home. This is always wrong. There is no 
time for it in any school ; for a diligent teacher can 
always find full employment even with a small number. 
Besides, he has engaged to devote himself to the school; 
and any departure from this is a violation of his con- 
tract. The children will so view it, and thus lose much 
of their respect for the teacher. Moreover, if they see 
him neglect his business for some other, they will be 
very likely to neglect theirs, and thus disorder will be 
introduced. I hold that the teacher is bound to devote 
every moment of school-hours to active labor for the 
school. 

5. Excuses. — Avoid making excuses to visitors for 
the defects of your school. Franklin, I think, said that 
" a man who is good for making excuses is good for 
nothing else." I have often thought of this as I have 
visited the schools of persons given to this failing. It 
is sometimes quite amusing to hear such a teacher keep 
up a sort of running apology for the various pupils. 
A class is called to read. The teacher remarks, " This 
class have but just commenced reading in this book." 
Stephen finishes the first paragraph, and the teacher 
adds, " Stephen has not attended school very regularly 
lately." William reads the second. " This boy," says 
the teacher, " was very backward when I came here — 
he has but just joined this class." Charles executes the 
third. " That boy has an impediment in his speech." 
Reuben follows. "It is almost impossible to make a 
good reader of Reuben; he never seems to pay the least 
attention. I have bestowed unwearied pains upon him." 
Mary takes her turn. " This girl has lost her book, and 
her father refuses to buy her another." Mary here 



28o THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

blushes to the eyes, — for though she could bear his 
reproof, she still has some sense of family pride; she 
bursts into tears, while Martha reads the next paragraph. 
"I have tried all along," says the teacher, "to make this 
girl raise her voice, but still she will almost stifie her 
words." Martha looks dejected, and the next in order 
makes an attempt. 

Pity Excited. — Now the teacher in all this has no 
malicious design to wound the feelings of every child in 
the class, — and yet he as effectually accomplishes that 
result as if he had premeditated it. • Every scholar is 
interested to read as well as possible in the presence 
of strangers; every one makes the effort to do so; yet 
every one is practically pronouiiced to have failed. The 
visitors pity the poor pupils for the pain they are made 
thus needlessly to suffer, and they pit i/ also the ^ueakness 
of the poor' teacher, whose love of approbation has so 
blinded his own perception that he is regardless of the 
feelings of others, and thinks of nothing but his own. 

<*When I Came Here." — This over-anxiety for the 
good opinion of others shows itself in a still less amiable 
light, when the teacher frequently makes unfavorable 
allusions to his predecessor, " When I came here" says 
the teacher significantly, '^ I found them all poor read- 
ers." Or, if a little disorder occurs in school, he takes 
cuire to add, "1 found the school in perfect confusion," 
- i)v, "the former teacher, as near as I can learn, used 
i ) dilow the children to talk and play as much as they 
pljased." Now, whatever view we take of such a course, 
it is impossible to pronounce it anything better than 
de:ipicalU meanness. For if the charge is true, it is by 
■no means magnanimous to publish the faults of another; 
and if it is untrue in whole or in part, as most likely it 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 28 1 

is, none but a contemptible person would magnify an- 
other's failings to mitigate his own. 

<* How Old are You ? '' — There is still another way in 
which this love of personal applause exhibits itself. I 
have seen teachers call upon their brightest scholars to 
recite, and then ask them to tell their age, in order to 
remind the visitor that they were very young to do so 
well; and then insinuate that their older pupils could of 
course do much better. 

Such Arts Recoil. — All these arts, however, recoil 
upon the teacher who uses them. A visitor of any 
discernment sees through them at once, and immediately 
suspects the teacher of conscious incompetency or wilful 
deception. The pupils lose their respect for a man whom 
they all perceive to be acting a dishonorable part. I 
repeat, then, iiever attempt to cover the defects of your 
schools ly making ridiculous excuses, 

6. Comparisons are Odious. — Never compare o?ie child 
with ayiother. It is ^ poor way of stiniulati-ng a dull 
pupil to compare him with a better scholar. It is the 
direct way to engender hatred in the mind of the one, 
and the most consummate self-complacency in the other. 
Not one child in a thousand can be publicly held up to 
the school as a pattern of excellence, without becoming 
excessively vain; at the same time, all the other scholars 
will be more, or less excited to envy. Such a course is' 
always unsafe; almost always injurious. 

7. Tenderness to a Dull Child. — Avoid tvounding the 
sensibilities of a dull child. There will always be those 
in every school who are slow to comprehend. After their 
classmates have grasped an idea during the teacher's 
explanation, they still have the vacant stare, the unin- 
telligent expression. This may be so after a second or 



282 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

a third explanation. Tiie teaclj^er is now strongly 
tempted to indulge in expressions of impatience, if not 
of opprobrium. This temptation he should resist. Such 
children are to be pitied for their dulness, but never to 
be censured for it. It is an unfeeling thing to sting the 
soul that is already benighted. He should cheer and 
encourage such a slow mind to greater effort, by the 
sunshine of kind looks, and the warm breath of sym- 
pathy, rather than freeze up the feeble current of vivacity 
which yet remains there by a forbidding frown or a blast 
of reproach. A dull child is almost always affectionate; 
and it is through the medium of kindness and patience 
that such a one is most effectually stimulated. 

8. Never Get Out of Temper with Parents. — Never 
lose your patience lohen parents unreasonably interfere 
loitli your plans. It must be expected that some of the 
parents will wish to dictate to the teacher what course 
he shall pursue, at least in relation to their own children. 
This wiir sometimes bring them to the schoolroom, per- 
haps in a tone of complaint, to set the teacher right. 
Whenever a parent thus steps beyond the bounds of 
propriety, the teacher should never lose his self-posses- 
sion. He should always speak the language of courtesy, 
in frankness, but in firmness. He should reason with 
the parent, and if possible convince him, — but he should 
never insult or abuse him. It may be well to propose to 
see him at his own house, in order to talk over the 
matter more at his leisure. I recollect once a parent 
sent a hasty refusal to purchase a necessary book for his 
son, — a refusal clothed in no very respectful language. 
I gave the lad a courteous note directed to his father, in 
which I intimated my desire to have an interview with 
him at his house at such time as he might appoint. In 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 283 

half an hour the boy came bounding back with the de- 
sired book, informing me that his father said, "he 
guessed he might as well get the book, and done with 
it." My intercourse with that parent was ever after- 
wards of the most pleasant kind. A supercilious parent 
can never gain an advantage over a teacher, unless he 
can first provoke him to impatience or anger. As long 
as the teacher is perfectly self-possessed he is impreg- 
nable. 

9. The Study of the Bible. — Never make the study of 
the Bible a punishment. I have known a teacher to 
assign sundry passages of the Bible, condemnatory of a 
particular sin, to be committed to memory as a punish- 
ment. I have also known the idle scholar to be detained 
after school to study passages of Scripture, because he 
had failed to learn his other lessons in due time. I 
believe this to be bad policy, as well as doubtful religion. 
The lessons that a child thus learns are always connected 
in his mind with unpleasant associations. His heart is 
not made better by truths thus learned. The Bible 
indeed should be studied by the young, but they should 
be attracted to it by the spirit of love rather than driven 
to it by the spirit of vindictiveness. They who suppose 
that children can be made to love the Bible by being 
thus driven to the study of it, have sadly mistaken the 
human heart. 

10. Riding Hobbies. — Bide no " hoibies " in teaching. 
Almost every man, in whatever vocation, has some 
hobby, some " one idea" which he pushes forward on all 
occasions, no matter what may be the consequences. It 
is not strange that it is often thus with the teacher. 
If the teacher has any independence of mind, any 
originality, he will at some period in his life naturally 



284 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

incline to try some experiments in teaching. Partly on 
account of the novelty of the plan, and partly on 
account of the teacher's interest in the success of his 
own measure, he finds it works well in the class where it 
was first tried; and he rejoices that he has made a dis- 
covery. Teaching now possesses a new interest for him, 
and he very likely becomes enthusiastic. He applies 
his new measure to other classes, and loudly recom- 
mends it to other teachers. For a time it succeeds, and 
it becomes his liohhy, A¥henever a stranger visits his 
school, he shows off his new measure. Whenever he 
attends a teachers' meeting, he describes it, and perhaps 
presents a class of his pupils to verify its excellency. 
He abandons his old and long-tried plans, and persists 
in the new one. By and by the novelty has worn away 
and his pupils become dull under its operation, and 
reason suggests that a return to the former methods 
would be advisable. Still, because it is his inventiorif 
he persists. Others try the experiment. Some succeed ; 
some fail. Some of them by a public speech commit 
themselves to it, and then persist in it to preserve their 
consistency. In this way a great many objectionable 
modes of teaching have gained currency, and still hold 
their sway in many of our schools. 

Oral Instruction — Among these I might mention 
concert recitation, and oral instructioji when made a 
substitute for study. Of the origin and tendency of the 
former I have spoken more at length in the chapter on 
" Conducting Kecitations." Of the latter, a word or two 
may be said in this place. 

Scientific Baby-talk !— It was found years ago, in the 
earlier attempts to teach the blind, that they made very 
rapid strides in acquiring knowledge through the sole 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 285 

medium of oral instruction. As might have been fore- 
seen, they became intensely interested in hearing about 
things which had surrounded them all their days, but 
which they had never seen. Shut in as they were from 
the privilege of sight, there was nothing to distract their 
attention from whatever was communicated to them 
through the sense of hearing; and, as they had been 
blind from their birth, this discipline of attention had 
been going on from infancy. Under these circumstances 
their progress in knowledge by mere oral teaching was 
astonishing. This was all well. But soon some one 
conceived the idea of substituting oral instruction for 
study among seeing children. Immediately there was 
an 07'al mania. Infant schools grew up in every vil- 
lage; infant-school manuals were prepared, filled with 
scientific lahytalk, for the use of the worthy dames who 
were to drive the liohlyy and the nineteenth century bade 
fair to do more towards lighting up the fires of science 
than all time before had accomplished. It was truly 
wonderful for a time to listen to the learned volubility 
of these same infant schools. The wonders of astronomy, 
chemistry, botany, and zoology with the terms of Cuvier's 
classification, and a thousand other things, were all de- 
tailed with astonishing familiarity hj pupils under five 
years of age ! Some eminent teachers sagely took the 
hint, and adopted the oral system with their older classes. 
The sciences were taught by lectures. The pupils of 
this happy day had nothing to do but to sit and receive. 
To be sure, sometimes they would become inattentive, 
and it would be discovered by their teachers that they 
did not retain quite nil that was told to them. This, 
however, was no fault of the system, it was urged ; the 
system was well enough, but unfortunately the pupils 



286 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

♦ 

had eyes, and their attention was frequently diverted by 
the unhicky use of these worthless organs. 

A Royal Road 1 — A royal road, sure enough, was found 
to the temjDle of science, too long beyond mortal reach 
by reason of the rugged footpath over v/hich the student 
was compelled to climb. Happy, glorious day ! No 
more must toil and thought be the price of success ! 
No more must midnight oil be consumed, and the brain 
be puzzled, in search of the wisdom of ages ! No more 
must the eyes be pained — (they are hereafter to be con- 
sidered encumbrances) — in searching the classic page; 
the ear is to be the easy inlet to the soul I 



Eyes are Useless Orbs ! — Such was the Jiobhy of 1829 
to 1831 in our own country. Those babes of the infant 
schools grew into " young men and maidens," in noway 
distinguished, after all, unless they afterwards achieved 
distinction by actual study. The pupils of those higher 
schools obtained whatever they later valued in their 
education, mainly by the use, of their eyes, notwithstand- 
ing at one time their worthy guides would have almost 
deemed it a blessing to have had their eyes put out ! It 
has been found that G-od was indeed wise in the bestow- 
ment of sight; and some at least have acknowledged 
that a method that is well suited to the instruction of 
those who are blind, because it is the only possible one 
for them, may not be the best for those who can see. 
At the present time the sentiment begins to prevail that 
oral instruction can never supply the place of study; 
that the lecturing or " pouring-in process " cannot long 
secure the attention; that the mind by merely receiving 
gains no vigor of its own ; and that scholars must be 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 287 

made, if made at all, mainly by their own exertions in 
in the use of books. 

Patent Methods. — It would be easy to mention other 
examples of hobiies which have been ridden by teachers 
very much to the injury of their schools. Those already 
given may, however, suffice for the purpose of illustra- 
tion. Let it be remembered, then, that no one method 
of instruction comprises all the excellences and avoids 
all the defects of good teaching; and that he is the 
wisest teacher who introduces a judicious variety into 
his modes of instruction, profiting by the suggestions of 
others, but relying mainly upon his own careful observa- 
tion, eschewing all " patent methods," and never losing 

his COMMON SEIiTSE. 

Favorite Studies.— Under the head of hobbies, I may 
add one other remark. Many teachers have some fa- 
vorite branch of study, in which, because they excel, 
they take special delight. One man is a good mathe- 
matician, another an expert accountant, a third a skil- 
ful grammarian. !N"ow the danger is that the favorite 
branch of study may become the hobby, and that the 
other branches will be neglected . This is indeed not 
unfrequently the case. 

Higher Branches. — Again, some teachers are more in- 
terested in the higher branches generally, because they 
were the last pursued in their college course, or for some 
other reason. They therefore neglect the lower studies, 
to the great detriment of the youth under their charge. 
Against all such partial views the teacher should take 
great pains .to guard himself. He may fall uncon- 
sciously and almost imperceptibly into some of these 
errors. Let me add the caution, then, — never allow 
your partiality for one study, or a class of studies, to 



288 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

divert your atteyitioii from all those other branches which 
are necessary to constitute a good, education. 

SECTION II. THINGS TO BE PERFORMEI). 

I. The Learners* Friend. — Co7ivi7ice your scholars 
bij your conduct that you are their friend. It is all- 
important that you should gain complete ascendency 
over the minds of your pupils. In no way is this point 
so successfully gained as by leading them to feel that 
you are their true friend. A¥hen they feel this, all their 
sentiments of generosity, gratitude, and love, conspire 
to lead them to render cheerful obedience to your 
wishes. Government then becomes easy; instruction is 
no longer irksome; and you can most cordially respond 
to the poet, in that beautiful sentiment too seldom fully 
realized : — 

" Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, 
And teach the young idea how to shoot, 
To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind, 
To breaihe the enlivening spirit, and to fix 
The generous purpose in the glowing breast." 

Love for Scholars and for Teaching to be Felt. — 

But effectually to convince them that you are thus 
their friend is not the work of a moment. Words alone 
can never do it. You may make professions of interest 
in them, but it is all to no purpose. Your actions, 
your looks, your whole spirit must show it. In order 
thus to exhibit it, you must/ee/ a deep, an all-pervading 
interest in the welfare of every child. You must love 
your profession, and you must love — sincerely love — 
those whom you are called to teach. If you do not love 
the work of teaching, and cannot bring yourself to love 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 289 

the children of your charge, you may not expect suc- 
cess. It was long ago declared that 

" Love only is the loan for love," — 

and this is specially true with the love of children. 
Their souls spontaneously go out after those who love 
them. Strive, then, to gain this point with them, not 
by empty pretensions, always quickly read and as 
quickly despised by the young; but by that full, frank, 
cordial expression of kindness in your manner towards 
them, which, being based upon deep principle in your- 
self, is sure at once to win their affection, and their 
ready compliance with all your reasonable requisitions. 

II. Care of Schoolliouse — Take special care that the 
sclioolhoicse and its appendages ai^e kept in good order. 
This is a part of every teacher's duty. He should have 
an eye that is constantly on the alert to perceive the 
smallest beginnings of injury to any part of the prem- 
ises. It is often painf al to see a new schoolhouse, that 
has with much care and expense been put in perfect 
order, very soon cut and otherwise distigured by the 
pupils -the glass broken, the ceiling soiled, the desks 
and floors stained with ink, and everything bearing the 
marks of youthful destructiveness. The teacher should 
be held accountable for such results, for he can by 
proper vigilance prevent them. 

Resist the Beginnings.— Some of his first lessons to 
his pupils should be upon the subject of practical neat- 
ness in regard to everything that pertains to the school. 
They should be impressed with the belief that he holds 
neatness as a cardinal virtue. Daily should he watch 
to discover the first violation of propriety upon the 



2go THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

premises. This first violation should be promptly met. 
There is great wisdom in the adage which enjoins us to 
" resist the ieginnings." 

Care of Books, Desks, etc. — So, too, he should exer- 
cise an oversight of the books belonging to the pupils. 
Many books are speedily destroyed by children for the 
want of a little care of the teacher — probably more than 
are worn out by use. He should also occasionally in- 
spect the desks, with a view to promote a commendable 
neatness there. The teacher has an undoubted right to 
inrpect any part of the premises; but by a little adroit- 
ness he can interest the children in a reform of this 
kind, and then they will desire that he should witness 
their carefulness. 

Rights of Property. —I may add further that the 
children should not only be taught to respect the 
schoolhouse and its appendages, but they should be 
taught to regard the sacredness of all property either 
public or private. The neighboring garden or orchard 
should be held to be inviolable. The teacher may not 
have the authority to compel compliance with his direc- 
tion or advice beyond school-hours, but he should en- 
deavor to exercise a moral influence in the school, which 
will be more powerful even than compulsion. So in 
regard to public buildings, such as churches and court- 
houses; and all public grounds, as parks, commons, and 
cemeteries — the teacher should inculcate not only the 
duty to abstain from injuring them, but a commendable 
desire to see them improved and beautified. 

Whittling.— In America, it is remarked by foreigners, 
there is a strange tendency to destructiveness. In our 
public buildings, the walls are usually disfigured by 
names and drawings, and even our cemeteries do not 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 29 1 

escape the violence of the knives of visitors, the trees 
being cut and marked with names, and the flowers 
plucked oS and carried away. It is to be hoped that 
our teachers will so exercise a reforming influence that 
the next generation shall exercise a higher principle as 
well as a better taste in all these matters, which, small 
as they are, make up no mean part of the manners and 
morals of a people. 

III. Text for a Lesson. — When scholars do lorong, 
it is sometimes test to luithholcl immediate reproof, hut 
to describe a similar case in general instruction. This 
is one of the most effectual modes of curing the evil in 
the wrong-doer himself. It, moreover, gives the teacher 
a valuable text for a lesson on morals before the whole 
school. Care should generally be taken not to lead the 
school to suspect the individual in your mind, while at 
the same time the parable should so fit the case as to 
preclude the necessity of saying to the offender, as 
Nathan did to David: "Thou art the man." 

A Confession. — A case will illustrate this. I recollect 
once to have found, among a large number of composi- 
tions presented by a class, one that I knew to have been 
copied. No notice was taken of it at the time; but 
some days afterwards a case was described to the class, 
resembling the one that had actually occurred. After 
exciting considerable interest in the case, they were told 
that such a thing had happened among their own num- 
ber; that I did not choose to expose the individual; 
but, if any of them thought it would be honorable for 
them to confess such an offence to me in case they had 
committed it, they might seek a private opportunity to 
do so. In less than twenty-four hours no less than four 
made such a confessien, detailing freely the extent and 



292 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

the circumstances of their offending. In this way four 
were reformed, where by direct reproof only one could 
have been reached. It was a frank, not a forced confes- 
sion; and I was thus easily made to know the extent of 
this sin in the school. By this simple expedient, I have 
reason to believe, plagiarism was effectually eradicated 
for that term at least, in the whole class, and that too 
without the loss of any pupiFs good-will. 

General Reformation.— It is generally wiser to en- 
deavor to reach the evil in its whole extent than to 
expend one^s strength upon a single instance of wrong- 
doing. The conscience of the whole school may some- 
times be profitably aroused, while the particular in- 
dividual is quite as effectively corrected as he would be 
by a direct reproof. 

IV. Accuracy. — Be accurate. This is necessary in 
order to secure the respect of your pupils. What the 
teacher professes to know he should be sure of. Ap- 
proximations to the truth are not enough to satisfy the 
young mind. Whenever a teacher makes a blunder by 
stating what is not true in regard to any fact or princi- 
ple in science, any event in history, or any item of statis- 
tics, he lowers himself very much in the estimation of 
all those who are capable of detecting his error. If he 
does not Tcnow, he may frankly say so, and incur no just 
censure, provided the point be one about which he has 
not had the opportunity to gain the requisite informa- 
tion. But when he attempts to speak with the author- 
ity of a teacher, he "should know that whereof he 
affirms." " The character of the teacher," says Profes- 
sor Olmsted, " is sullied by frequent mistakes, like that 
of a book-keeper or banker. It is surprising to see how 
soon even the youngest learner will lose his confidence 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 293 

and respect for his teacher, when he has detected in him 
occasional mistakes. At every such discovery he rises 
in his own estimation, and the teacher proportionally 
sinks. The very character of the pupil is injured by 
such an incident. He rapidly loses the docility and 
modesty so essential to the scholar, and becomes up- 
lifted with pride and self-importance." The supercili- 
ousness thus induced becomes a sore vexation to the 
teacher. He finds that his pupils are watching for his 
halting; and he frequently fails, from this very circum- 
stance, to do as well as he might. I know of no more 
pitiable condition on earth than that of a teacher, who 
is attempting to teach what he does not fully under- 
stand, while he is conscious that his pupils doubt his 
ability from a frequent detection of his mistakes. 

V. A Pleasant Face. — Cultivate a pleasant counte- 
nance. Frowns and scowls always sit with ill grace upon 
the teacher's brow. I know that the trials and perplex- 
ities incident to his daily life are eminently fitted '* to 
chafe his mood " and to provoke his impatience. I know, 
too, that protracted confinement from the pure air and 
the bright sunlight will almost necessarily render the 
nervous system morbidly sensitive, and the temper of 
course extremely irritable. The outward exponent of all 
this is a dejected and perhaps an angry countenance. 
The eyebrows are drawn up so that the forehead is 
deeply and prematurely furrowed, while the angles of 
the mouth are suffered to drop downward as if in token 
of utter despair. By and by the roguishness of some 
unlucky urchin disturbs the current of his thoughts, 
and suddenly the brow is firmly knitted with transverse 
channels, the nostrils are distended, the jaws are firmly 
closed, the lips are compressed, the cheeks are flushed, 



294 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

and the eyes almost emit sparks from the pent-up fire 
within him. For the next half -hour he frowns on all 
about him. The children at first are awed by such a 
threatening aspect; but soon they become accustomed 
to it, and the terrible very naturally gives place to the 
ridiculous. 

Wrong to Frown. — No man has a moral right to 
render those uncomfortable who surround him by 
habitually covering his face with the looks of discon- 
tent and moroseness. It is peculiarly lorong for the 
teacher to do it. It is for him to present an example 
of self-government under all circumstances, so that he 
can consistently enforce the duty of self-control upon 
the young. It is for him to show himself a man of 
principle, of benevolence, of cheerful devotion to his 
duty, however full of trials that duty may be; and in 
no way can he do this more effectually than by an 
amiable and engaging countenance. A peevish, frown- 
ing teacher is very likely to produce petulance and sul- 
lenness in his pupils; while a cordial smile, like the 
genial beam of the spring-day sun, not only sheds a 
welcome light on all-around, but imparts a blessed heat, 
which penetrates the frigidity of the heart, dissipates 
the cheerless mists that hover there, and warms the 
generous affections into life and beauty. 

Sympathy between the Heart and the Countenance 

We are so constituted that the inward and the outward 
sympathize with each other. Solomon says "a merry 
heart maketh a cheerful countenance ; ^' and, I may 
venture to add, and with almost as much truth, a cheer- 
ful countenance maketh a merry heart. An honest 
attempt to bless others with the sight of a countenance 
that is expressive of content and patience is an act so 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 295 

praiseworthy in itself that it will never go unrewarded. 
The gratifying response which such a countenance is> 
sure to call forth from others brings with it a rich 
revenue of inward enjoyment. He, therefore, who 
habitually bears about with him a sad or an angry coun- 
tenance, while he constantly impairs the happiness of 
others, lacks at the same time an important instrumen- 
tality for securing his own. 

Means Recommended.— But the question will arise. 
Can a man gain such ascendency over himself as to 
control the expression of his countenance ? I answer, 
without hesitation, yes. " Whatever ought to be done, 
can be done." It is not perfectly easy to do it, espe- 
cially for the teacher. Still, self-control— full, complete 
self-control — is his appropriate duty as well as privilege. 
He must, as Oarlyle quaintly enjoins, "learn to devour 
the chagrins of his lot." He must calculate beforehand 
that every day will bring its cares and its trials; but he 
should daily resolve that they shall never take him by 
surprise, nor betray him into sudden impatience. Each 
morning, as he w^alks to the scene of his labors, he should 
fortify himself against sudden anger or habitual morose- 
ness in this wise : "No doubt this day some untoward 
occurrence will transpire, calculated to try my patience 
and to provoke me to fretful words and angry looks. 
All my past experience leads me to expect this. But 
this day I will try to resist the temptation to this weak- 
ness. I will try to be self-possessed. If any child is 
vicious, or fretful, or dull, or even impudent, I will en- 
deavor to show that I can command myself. If I feel 
some angry passion enkindling within me, I will stop 
and tliinky and I w411 endeavor to smile before I speak. 
If I can to-day gain the victory over impatience, and 



296 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

can maintain an even and cheerful temper, and express 
i.t constantly in my countenance, it will be easier to do 
it to-morrow. At all eve7its, I'll try'' 

A Victory. — Taking hold thus in earnest, any man 
may soon be his own master. He can gain the victory. 
If he can do it, he ought to do it. Hence I urge it as a 
duty. Nor is it merely a duty. It is a high privilege. 
A complete victory for a single day will bring its own 
reward. A man who feels that he has risen above his 
temptation can return to his rest with a light and 
happy heart. Sleep to him will be sweet, and he will 
arise on the morrow with renewed strength for the 
fresh conflict ; and in the moral as well as in the literal 
warfare, every contest which ends in victory gives addi- 
tional strength to the victor, while it weakens and dis- 
heartens his enemy. 

VI. Art of Illustrating.— /S'^za??/ to acquire the art of 
aptly illustrating a difficult subject. Some teachers 
content themselves with answering in the precise lan- 
guage of the book whenever a question for information 
is propounded. This however is by no means sufficient, 
even when the language of the book is strictly accurate; 
much less, when the language is so vague as to convey 
no definite idea to the mind, either of the learner or the 
teacher. On the other hand, a man who is apt to teach 
will devise some ingenious method of enlightening the 
mind of his pupil, so that he shall lay hold of the idea 
as with a manly grasp, and make it his own forever. 

A Lesson in Physics. — This point will, perhaps, be 
best illustrated by an example. A young man was em- 
ployed to take charge of a school for a few days during 
a temporary illness of the regular instructor. He was 
a good scholar, as the world would say, and was really 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 297 

desirous to answer the expectation of his employers. 
After the regular teacher had so far recovered his health 
as to be able to leave his room he walked one pleasant 
day to the school, to see what success attended the 
labors of the new incumbent. A class was reciting in 
natural philosophy. The subject under consideration 
was — the obstacles which impede the motion of machin- 
ery. The attraction of gravity, as one of these, was 
pretty easily disposed of; for the class had before been 
instructed on that point. Friction came next. Here, 
too, the pupils, having had some practical experience of 
their own, in dragging their sleds, in skating, or per- 
haps in turning a grindstone, found no great difficulty. 
The book spoke a language sufficiently clear to be 
understood. Next came the " resistance of the various 
media,^' to use the language of the text- book. " Yes," 
said the teacher, as one of the pupils gravely quoted 
this language " that has no inconsiderable effect." 

"The * resistance of tUe various media?'" repeated 
one of the boys inquiringly; *' I do not know as I under- 
stand what media means." 

*' A medium is that in which a body moves," was the 
ready reply which the teacher read from the book. 

Pupil. " A medium 9 " 

Teacher. "Yes; we say medium -^^qh we mean but 
one, and media when we mean more than one." 

Ptcpil. "When we mean but one ?" 

Teacher. " Yes; medium is singular — media is plural." 

After this discussion, which began in philosophy but 
ended in grammar, the teacher was about to proceed 
with the next question of the book. But the scholar 
was not yet satisfied, and he ventured to press his in- 
quiries a little further. 



298 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Pupil. " Is this room a medium ? " 

Teacher. " This room ? " 

Pupil. "Yes, sir; you said that a medium was 'that 
in which anybody moves/ and we all move in this room. 

Teaclier. "Yes, but medium does not mean a room; 
it is the sulstance in which a body moves." 

Here the lad looked perplexed and unsatisfied. He 
had no clear idea of the meaning of this new term. 
The teacher looked at his watch, and then glanced at 
the remaining pages of the lesson, and seemed impatient 
to proceed — so the pupil forbore to inquire further. 

The regular teacher, v/ho had listened to the discus- 
sion with no ordinary interest, both because he admired 
the inquisitiveness of the boy, and because he was curi- 
ous to discover how far the new incumbent possessed 
the power of illustration, here interposed. 

"John," — taking his watch in his hand, — "would 
this watch continue to go if I should drop it into a pail 
of water ? " 

" I should think it would not long," said John, after 
a little reflection. 

" Why not ? " said his teacher, as he opened his watch. 

" Because the water would get round the wheels and 
stop it, I should think,*' said John. 

" How would it be if I should drop it into a quart of 
molasses ? " 

The boys laughed. 

" Or into a barrel of tar ? " 

• The boys still smiled. 

" Suppose I should force it, while open, into a quan- 
tity of lard." 

Here the boys laughed heartily, while John said "the 
v/atch would not go in any of these articles." 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 299 

"Articles V said his teacher; "why not say media V^ 

John's eye glistened as he caught the idea. " Oh, I 
understand it now!" 

His teacher then said that many machines worked in 
air, — then the air was the medium. A fish swims in 
water, — water is his medium. A fish could hardly swim 
in molasses or tar. " ISTow," inquired he, " why not ? " 

"Because of the resistance of the medium," said John, 
with a look of satisfaction. 

"Now why will the watch go in air and not in 
water ? " 

"Because the water is more dense," said John, 
promptly. 

" Then upon what does the resistance of a medium 
depend ? " 

Here the new teacher interposed, and said that was 
the next question in the book, and he was just going to 
ask it himself. The regular teacher put his watch into 
his pocket and became a spectator again, and the lesson 
proceeded with unwonted vivacity. 

The Difference. — The difference between these two 
teachers mainly consisted in the fact that one had the 
ingenuity to devise an expedient to meet a difficulty 
whenever occasion required, — the other had not. 

Study Expedients. — Now in order to teach well, a 
man should diligently seek for expedients. He should 
endeavor to foresee the very points where the learner will 
stumble, and provide himself with the means of render- 
ing timely aid. If an object cannot be described in 
words, let it be compared with what it resembles, or 
with what it contrasts. If it be an object of sense and 
words and comparisons fail to describe it,— in, the ab- 
sence of apparatus to represent it, let the teacher spring 



300 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

to the black-board and execute a hasty drawing of it. 
In this way the construction or the working of a ma- 
chine, the form of a bone or the action of a joint, the 
shape of a town or the plan of a building, — in short, al- 
most every subject that involves the relation of form, 
size, proportion, quantity, or number will admit of visi- 
ble illustration. He is the successful teacher who is 
able at the moment to seize upon the best expedient 
and render it subservient to his purpose. 

VII. A Moral Impression — Take advantage of un- 
usual occurrences to make a moral or religious impres- 
siim. In a former chapter I have urged it, as a part of 
the teacher's work, to cultivate and strengthen both the 
moral sentiments and the religious feelings of the mem- 
bers of his school. This is not most effectually done by 
a formal mode of speaking to them on these subjects. 
If a particular hour is set apart for formal lectures on 
their duty to their fellow -men and their obligations 
to God, they are very apt to fortify their sensibilities 
against the most faithful appeals, and thus render them 
powerless. The wise teacher will watch for the fit op- 
portunity, and, just at the moment when the heart is 
prepared by some suitable occurrence, — when by some 
exhibition of the Creator's power it is awed into rever- 
ence, or softened into submission; or by some display of 
His goodness it is warmed into gratitude, or animated 
with delight, — with a few words, seasonably and " fitly 
spoken ,'' he fixes the impression forever. Speaking at 
the right time, every ear listens and every heart feels. 

The Fit Occasion. — Perhaps many of my readers can 
revert to some season in their childhood, endeared to 
them by a precious recollection of golden words thus 
opportunely uttered — words fraught with truth which in 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 30I 

after-life has had an unspeakable influence in the forma- 
tion of their character. One or two examples connected 
with my own experience may be presented, more fully 
to illustrate my meaning; while at the same time they 
may afford, it is hoped, some valuable hints for the en- 
couragement and guidance of such young teachers as 
desire in this way to make themselves the instruments 
of lasting benefit to the young. 

Example I. 

A Thunder-storm. — I can never forget — nor would I 
if I could — a lesson im.pressed upon my own youthful 
mind, conveying the truth that we are constantly de- 
pendent upon our Heavenly Father for protection. In 
a plain country schoolhouse, some twenty-five children, 
including myself, were assembled with our teacher on 
the afternoon of a summer^s day. We had been as 
happy and as thoughtless as the sportive lambs that 
cropped the clover of the neighboring hillside. En- 
grossed with study or play, — for at this distance of time 
it is impossible to tell which, — we had not noticed the 
low rumbling of the distant thunder, till a sudden flash 
of lightning arrested our attention. Immediately the 
sun was veiled by the cloud, and a corresponding gloom 
settled upon every face within. The elder girls, with 
the characteristic thoughtfulness of woman, hastily in- 
quired whether they should not make the attempt to 
lead their younger brothers and sisters to the paternal 
roof before the bursting of the storm. For a moment 
our little community was thrown into utter confusion. 
The teacher stepped hastily to the door to survey more 
perfectly the aspect of the western heavens. Immedi- 
ately returning, he signified to the children that there 



302 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

would not be time for them to reach their homes before 
the tempest would be upon them. Oppressed with 
dread, — for it is no uncommon thing for children in the 
country to be terrified by lightning, — some of the 
youngest of us clung to our older brothers or sisters, 
while others, being the sole representatives of their 
family in the school, for the first time felt their utter 
loneliness in the midst of strangers, and gave utterance 
to their feelings in audible sighs or unequivocal sobs. 

Teacher's Self-possession — The teacher, meanwhile, 
with an exemplary calmness and self-possession, closed 
the windows and the doors, and then seated himself 
quite near the younger pupils, to await the result. The 
thick darkness gathered about us, as if to make the 
glare of the lightning, by contrast, more startling to our 
vision ; while the loud thunder almost instantly followed, 
as it were the voice of God. The wind howled through 
the branches of a venerable tree near by, bending its 
sturdy trunk, and threatening to break asunder the 
cords which bound it to its mother earth. An angry 
gust assailed the humble building where we were shel- 
tered; it roared down the capacious chimney, violently 
closed a shutter that lacked a fastening, breaking the 
glass by its concussion, and almost forced in the frail 
window-sashes on the westerly side of the room. Quicker 
and more wild the lightnings glared — flash after flash 
— as if the heavens were on fire ; louder and nearer the 
thunder broke above our heads, while the inmates of the 
room, save the teacher, were pale with terror. 

Awful Pause. — At this moment there was a sudden 
cessation of the war of elements. — a hush — almost a pro- 
plietic pause ! It was that brief interval which precedes 
the falling torrent. A dread stilness reigned within 



iMISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 303 

the room. Every heart beat hurriedly, and every coun- 
tenance told the consternation that was reigning within. 
It was an av/ful moment! 

Teacher's Words.— With a calm voice, breathing a sub- 
dued and confiding spirit, the teacher improved this 
opportunity to impress upon our young minds a great 
truth. "Fear not, children," said he; "it is your 
Heavenly Father that sends the storm as well as the 
sunshine and the gentle breeze. You have been just as 
much in His power all day as you are at this moment. 
He has been as near you, supporting you, supplying you 
with breath, with life, all through the pleasant morning; 
but then you did not see Him. He is just as able to 
protect you now, for * not a sparrow falls to the ground 
without His notice,' — and He ruleth the storm and * rideth 
upon the wings of the wind.' We should ever feel will- 
ing to trust Him; for He is ever able to grant us deliver- 
ance from all our dangers. God is here now to protect 
us." 

After Rain, Sunshine.— Just as he had finished these 
words, the rain began to fall. First the drops were tev/ 
and scattered; but soon the windows of heaven were 
opened, and the thirsty ground was abundantly satisfied. 
The sound of the thunder became fainter and fainter as 
the cloud passed away ; the sun burst out again in re- 
newed splendor; the full drops glittered in his beams 
upon the grass; the birds began their songs; the rainbow 
spanned the eastern hills; and our hearts, taught by the 
timely instructions of a good man, began to expand with 
eager gratitude for our preservation by the hand of our 
Heavenly Father. 

The Bible Speaks — The remainder of the afternoon 
passed happily away, and when our books were laid 



304 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

aside, and we were ready to burst out of the room to 
enjoy the refreshing air and participate in the general 
joy,— the teacher, taking the Bible from the desk, asked 
us to remain quiet a moment, while he would read a few 
words that he hoped we should never forget. 

The passage was the following, from the 65th Psalm:— 

By terrible thiugs in rigbteousness wilt thou answer ns, O God 
of our salvation: who art the coufiilence of all the ends of the 
eanh, and of them that are afar oft" upon the sea. Wbich by his 
strength selteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: 
which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and 
the tumult of the people. 

They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy 
tokens : thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening 
to rejoice. 

Thou visitest the earth and waterest it : thou greatly enrichest 
it wiih the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest 
them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. 

Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou settlest the 
furrows iheieof : thou makest it soft with showers : thou bkssest 
the springing thereof. 

Thou crow nest the year with thy goodness ; and thy paths 
drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness : 
and the little hills rejoice on every side. 

The pastures are clothed with flocks ; the valleys also are cov- 
ered over with corn ; they shout for joy, they also sing. 

Words Fitly Spoken. — After closing the book the 
teacher said: "Go out now, children, and witness how 
perfectly these words have been fulfilled toward us this 
afternoon : and from this day's mercies, learn hereafter 
to trust God as confidently in the storm, when He dis- 
plays His power by His outward * tokens/ as when He 
kindly smiles upon you in the beams of the glorious sun, 
or gently breathes upon you in the morning breeze/' 

The Effect.— We went forth bounding in gladness and 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 305 

gratitude, and saw the " outgoings of the evening to re- 
joice/' — " the pastures clothed with flocks," — " the val- 
leys covered over with com," — " the little hills rejoicing 
on every side/' We heard also the general shout for 
joy; and we felt, as we never before had felt, a deep, 
thorough, abiding conviction of the truth that God is 
our Father and our Friend — the God of our salva- 
tion". 

Blessed Memories. — I know not how soon these im- 
pressions faded from the minds of the other children; 
but for myself I can say that, from that time to the 
present, whenever I have been exposed to apparent 
danger from the impending tempest, the warring ele- 
ments, or the ravages of disease, the teachings of that 
hour have always revived in my mind to soothe my 
troubled spirit, and to reassure my faith and confidence 
in the presence of an all-sufficient and merciful Preserver. 
A thousand times have I devoutly blessed the memory 
of that faithful teacher for having so early and so hap- 
pily turned my thoughts upward to Him in whom ^' we 
live, and move, and have our being." 

Example II. 

A Dark Day. — It was in the afternoon of a gloomy 
day in the latter part of November, when the pupils, 
consisting of some fifty boys, belonging to a school in 
a pleasant seaport town in New England, were told by 
their teacher, a few minutes before the usual hour, that 
they might lay aside their studies and prepare for dis- 
mission. During the early part of the day there had 
been one of those violent southeast rain-storms, so com- 
mon upon the seacoast at that season of the year. It is 
well known to the observing mariner that a storm from 



306 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

the soufclieast never coiitinnes beyond twelve or fifteen 
hours; and when the violence of the storm abates, it is 
a common remark of the sailor, that " the northwester is 
not long in deU to the southeaster." Previous to this 
change of wind, however, there is what is expressively 
termed the " lull of the storm " — a period when the rain 
ceases to fall, the wind dies away to a perfect calm, the 
barometer is suddenly depressed, the clouds hover almost 
upon the face of the earth, shutting out the light of the 
sun, and causing a cheerless damp to settle upon every 
thing terrestrial, and a dreary gloom to enshroud the 
mind itself. "When the wind changes, these clouds are 
not gradually dissolved and broken up, so that the eye 
can catch transient glimpses of the blue sky beyond, as 
after a sDOw-storm in winter; but the dark drapery is 
suddenly lifted up, as if by an unseen hand, and the 
western sky, from the horizon upwards, is left more 
bright and more charming than ever, to refresh the eye 
and reanimate the soul. 

Early Dismission. — It was such a day, as before re- 
marked, when the pupils of this school — partly because 
of the darkness in the schoolroom, and partly because of 
their protracted confinement within a close apartment 
during a gloomy afternoon — were, a little earlier than 
usual, about to be dismissed. The pupils all seemed to 
welcome the happy release that awaited them; — and, 
in their eagerness to escape from confinement, they very 
naturally neglected to observe their accustomed regard 
for quiet and order in laying aside their books. It was, 
however, a fixed habit with the teacher never to give 
the signal for leaving the room till all the pupils 
had taken taken the proper attitude for passing out 
with regularity, and then had composed themselves \}0 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 307 

perfect silence. On this occasion perhaps two minutes 
passed away while the hoys were gradually, almost 
impatiently, bringing themselves to a compliance with 
this rule of the teacher. 

Light Breaks In. — During this interval of waiting, 
the cloud, unperceived by the teacher, had been slowly 
raised up from the western horizon, just in time to 
allow the setting sun to bestow a farewell glance upon 
the sorrowing world at his leave-taking. Through the 
Venetian blinds that guarded the windows towards the 
west, the celestial light gleamed athwart the apartment, 
and painted the opposite wall, in front of the pupils, 
with streaks of burnished gold! In an instant every 
countenance was changed. A smile now joyously played 
where before sadness and discontent had held their 
moody reign. The teacher was reminded, by all these 
circumstances, of the beautiful language of the prophet, 
which promised the gift of " the garment of praise for 
the spirit of heaviiiess," What could be more appro- 
priate on this occasion than a song of praise f Without 
speaking a single word, the teacher commenced one 
of the little songs already familiar to the whole school ; — 

Lo the heavens are breaking, 

Pure and bright above; 
Life and light awaking, 

Murmur— GocZ w lorn. 

God is love. 



Round yon pine-clad mountain, 
Flows a golden flood; 

Hear the sparkling fountain, 
Whisper — Qod is good. 

QOD IS GOOD, 



308 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

Wake, ray heart, and springing, 

Spread thy wings above, — 
Soaring still and singing, 

Ood is ever-good. 

G D IS GOOD. 

An Impression. — Instantly every voice that had ever 
sung now uttered heartfelt praise. The attendant cir- 
cumstances, taken at the happy moment, furnished 
such an impressive commentary upon the import of 
the words, that they were felt, as they never before 
had been felt, to be the words of precious truth. Every 
heart throbbed in unison with the sentiment. At the 
close of the song there was profound silence in the 
room. After a moment's pause, during which the truth 
that God is good seemed to pervade each mind and hold 
it in silent reverence, the signal for departure was 
given. One after another the boys passed from their 
seats with a light and careful step, as if noise and haste 
would be a desecration both of the time and place; and 
when they reached the open air, refreshing and exhila- 
rating as it was, there was no boisterous shout, no rude 
mirth; each took his homeward course, apparently with 
a new and lively conviction that God is good. 

Teacher's Satisfaction. — It has always been a source 
of pleasure to that teacher to recall from the ** buried 
past" the associations connected with that delightful 
hour and that charming song; and it has been among 
the most gratifying incidents of his experience as a 
teacher to hear more than one of those pupils in later 
life recur to the memory of that day, and acknowledge 
with thankfulness the lasting impressions which then 
and there were made upon their minds. 

Other Occasions.— It would be easy to furnish exam- 



MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS. 309 

pies, to almost any extent, of the manner in which this 
principle has been, or may be carried out in practice. 
The degradation of an intoxicated person who may 
pass the school, — the pitiable condition of the man who 
may wander through the streets bereft of his reason, — 
any instance of sudden death in the neighborhood, par- 
ticularly of a young person, — the passing of a funeral 
procession, — in short, any occurrence that arrests the 
attention of the young and enlists their feeling, may be 
seized upon as the means of making upon their minds 
an impression for good. The facts developed in many 
of their lessons, too, afford opportunities for incidental 
moral instruction. The adaptation of means to ends, — 
the evidence of design and intelligence displayed in 
the works of creation, — the existence of constant and 
uniform laws as developed in the sciences, all furnish 
the means of leading the young mind to God. 

Pleasant Retrospection. — That teacher will enjoy 
the richest satisfaction in the evening of life who, in 
looking back upon his past experience, shall be con- 
scious that he has improved every opportunity which 
God has given him to turn the youthful affections 
away from the things of earth, to seek a worthier object 
in things above. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What errors must be avoided in judging a child ? 

2. What children are particularly entitled to a full share of 
the teacher's love ? AVhy ? 

3. Explain the injustice of judging a child by his demeanor 
in school ? 

4. Should the teacher allow himself to be influenced by 
pupils or parents as to the direction of the studies? Give 
reasons. 

5. (a) What is usually the result of attempting to teach too 



510 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

many things? (6) How can the teacher guard against this 
evil ? 

6. Explain the rule, " Devote every moment of school-hours 
to active labor for the school." 

7. (a) Show the folly of making excuses to visitors for de- 
fects of the school. (6) Give three examples and describe the 

• effects. 

8. Why should a child never be publicly held up to the 
school as a model of excellence? 

9. (a) How would you treat a "dull " child ? What should 
be avoided ? 

10. How would you meet the interference of parents in your 
work ? 

11. Mention some " hobbies " of teachers, and show how they 
lead to a disregard of the true object of the school. 

12. How is it that men of great learning usually make the 
poorest common-school teachers ? 

13. How can a teacher make his pupils feel that he loves 
them ? 

14. Why is it essential that a teacher should lore his busi- 
ness ? 

15. How can the teacher secure neatness and good order in 
everything that pertains to the school? 

16. How can disfigurement and destruction of school prop- 
erty be prevented ? 

17. How can children be interested in the care of books, 
desks, etc. ? 

18. Mention one of the most effectual means of reproving a 
wrong-doer in school. 

19. (a) Why is it important that a teachei* should be ac- 
curate in the statement of facts? (b) What if he does not 
know? 

20. How can the teacher cultivate an even, amiable temper ? 
Why important ? 

21. Why is it particularly wrong for the teacher to enter the 
school with a look of discontent and moroseness ? 

22. What means should be employed to aid the children to 
grasp a diflQcult idea ? 

23. Mention some occasions that furnish an effectual lesson 
for the impression of a moral or religious truth ? Give an 
example. 

24. What are the advantages of a few words, seasonably 
and fitly spoken, over formal lessons on moral or religious 
subjects'? Why? 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. }H 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 

Low Pecuniary Reward.— It is proverbial that the 
pecuniary compensation of the teacher is, in most places, 
far below the proper standard. It is very much to be 
regretted that an employment so important in all its 
bearings should be so poorly rewarded. In New Eng- 
land there are many young women who, having spent 
some time in teaching, have left that occupation to go 
into the large manufacturing establishments as laborers, 
simply because they could receive a higher compensation. 
I have known several instances in which young ladies, 
in humble circumstances, have left teaching to become 
domestics, thus performing the most ordinary manual 
labor, because they could receive better pay; that is, the 
farmers and mechanics of the district could afford to 
pay more liberally for washing and ironing, for making 
butter and cheese, for sweeping floors and cleaning 
paint, than they could for educating the immortal minds 
of their children ! 

Driving Pegs.— Nor is this confined to the female sex. 
Young mechanics and farmers, as well as those employed 
in manufacturing, frequently receive higher wages than 
the common-school teacher in the same district. Many 
a young man who has only genius enough to drive the 
pegs of a shoe in a regular row, and skill enough to 
black the surface of the article when it is completed, 
having spent but a few weeks in learning his trade, re- 



312 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

ceives more money for his work than he who, after hav- 
ing spent months, or even years, in gaining the requisite 
qualilications, labors to polish that nobler material, the 
human soul. 

Injustice.— The injustice of this becomes more ap- 
parent when we bear in mind that public opinion de- 
mands, and justly too, that the teacher should be not 
only gentlemanly in his manners, but better clad than 
the mere laborer — thus throwing upon him a greater 
burden without affording him the means of sustaining 
it. The female teacher of a district school, in order to 
be respectable, must be much more expensively dressed 
than the domestic in the family where she boards, and 
is thus compelled to consume most of her receipts upon 
her wardrobe, while the domestic is able to place sur- 
plus money at interest in the savings-bank. This in- 
justice has so often been laid before the people, and yet 
has been so long continued, that many have given up in 
despaii', and abandoned an employment that has yielded 
so little, choosing rather to engage in that lower service 
which is so much better paid. 

Living by Wits.— This sufficiently explains why so 
many unqualified teachers have been found in our com- 
mon schools. Men of talents and ability, being tempted 
to other employments, have left the field unoccupied; 
and those men who have failed to gain a comfortable 
living by their hands have been allowed to try the ex- 
periment of supporting life by their wits, — that is, by 
becoming teachers ! 

Improvement. — Such has been the case for a long 
time past; and, though in many quarters the people are 
beginning to open their eyes to their true interest, and 
are gradually and commendably coming up to their duty, 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. ^IJ 

yet, for some time to come, the peciniiary compensation 
will not constitute the chief reward of the teacher. If 
he will go cheerfully to his work, and find his daily en- 
joyment in his daily toil, he must have a higher object 
—some more elevating, inspiring motive than mere 
money-getting. The chief encouragements of the faith- 
ful teacher lie in another direction. 

Encouragements. — It is the object of the following 
paragraphs to point out some of these encouragements; 
for, having in the preceding pages required very much 
at his hands, I feel that it is but just that he should be 
invited to look at the brighter side of the picture, so 
that when he is ready to sink under the responsibilities 
of his position, or to yield to the obstacles that oppose 
his progress, he may have something to animate his soul, 
and to nerve him anew for the noble conflict. 

I. Means of Mental Growth. — The teacher's employ^ 
ment affords the means of intellectual groxuth. If a man 
teaches as he should teach, he must of necessity improve 
himself. Teaching, understandingly pursued, gives ac- 
curacy. I know it is possible for a man to be a mere 
schoolmaster — 2i pedagogue, without any self -improve- 
ment. But I am speaking of the faithful, devoted 
teacher — the man who studies reflects, invents. Such 
a man learns more than his pupils. Every time he 
takes a class through any branch of study, he does it 
more skilfully, more thoroughly than before. He 
brings some fresh illustration of it, presents some new 
view of it, and hence takes a lively interest in it himself, 
and awakens a new zeal among his pupils. Measuring 
himself by his new success, he feels a consciousness of 
growth, of progress. This consciousness is a precious 
reward. 



;i4 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

II. Means of Moral Growth.-— ^Ae teacher's employ- 
ment affords the means of moral groiuth. Brought 
constantly in contact with those who need a careful 
guidance, he feels impelled to earnest effort in order to 
obtain the mastery over himself, as the best means of 
gaining complete influence over others. Studying the 
weak points in their character, he is constantly reminded 
of those in his own; and self-knowledge is the first step 
toward self -improvement. Beginning in the feebleness 
of inexperience, he bolsters up his authority at first by 
a frequent resort to force; but, ^s he goes on, he finds 
himself gradually gaining such ascendency over the vi- 
cious as to control them quite as effectually by milder 
means. At first, easily excited to anger or impatience, 
he frequently indulged in severe language when it was 
unnecessary; but by careful discipline he has learned 
to " set a watch before his mouth and to keep the door 
of his lips.'' Encouraged by one victory over himself, 
he is prepared for another. Having learned by self-dis- 
cipline to control his outward acts, he next attempts the 
mastery of his thoughts. He soon finds that his moral 
power over others is very much increased. Somehow 
— though perhaps he cannot yet tell the reason why — 
he finds he can secure obedience with half the effort 
formerly required : he gains the love of his pupils more 
readily, and with the exception now and then of an 
extreme case, he finds that he excites a deeper interest 
than ever before in the whole round of duty among the 
scholars. Why is this ? he asks, — and the consciousness 
of increased inoral power rising up within him is a 
source of the highest satisfaction. Pecuniary emolu- 
ment sinks into nothing considered as a reward, when 
compared with a conscious victory over himself. 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. .315 

III. Progress in the Art of Teaching.—^ conscious- 
ness of improvement i7i the art of teacTdng is another 
reward. Such improvement will follow as a matter of 
course from his self -improvement in the particulars just 
named. As his own mind expands, he feels a new im- 
pulse to exert himself to interest others in the subjects 
he teaches. He soon comes to look upon the work of 
instruction, not as a mere mechanical business, to be 
done in a formal way, but as a noble art, based upon 
certain great principles that are capable of being under- 
stood and applied. He employs all his ingenuity to dis- 
cover the natural order of presenting truth to the mind. 
— to ascertain the precise degree of aid the learner 
needs, and the point where the teacher should stop. 
He studies carefully the proper motives to be presented 
as incentives to exertion. Interested in his labor as a 
great work, looking upon his influence as telling upon 
all future time, he devotes himself daily with new zeal, 
and is reiuarded with the consciousness of new success, 

IV, Pupils' Growth of Mind The teacher, is per- 
mitted aho to witness the consta7it growth of mind 
among his pupils. I say constant, because the teacher 
is not obliged to labor without seeing immediate results. 
The minister of religion may sometimes sow the seed 
of the Good Word, while the fruit does not appear for a 
long season. Sometimes a spiritual apathy prevails, so 
that the most faithful warnings and the most earnest 
appeals seem to fall powerless upon the conscience; and 
he is led almost to despair of ever being able to break 
the deathlike slumber. It is not thus with the teacher. 
His labor tells immediately upon the young mind. 
Even while he is yet speaking, he is gratified with ob- 
serving the soul's expansion as it grasps and assimilates 



3l6 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

some new idea which he presen-ts. From day to day, as 
he meets his classes, he sees how they go on from 
strength to strength — at first, indeed, with the halting^ 
tottering step of the feeble babe, but soon with the firm 
and confident tread of the vigorous youth. 

<< They Were My Pupils.'* — A teacher who is for 
several years employed in his vocation is often aston- 
ished at the rapidity with which the young, who come 
to him as mere children, grow into men and women, 
and take their places on the stage of life as prominent 
actors. Some of them distinguish themselves in the 
arts; some become noted for their attainments in sci- 
ence; some receive the honors of office and become 
leaders in civil affairs; some gain eminence as profes- 
sional men ; and very likely a large portion of them are 
engaged in the various departments of honorable indus- 
try. Wherever they are, and whatever they are, they 
are now exerting a powerful influence in the commu- 
nity. They have grown up under his eye, and have been 
essentially shaped by his plastic hand. He looks upon 
them almost with the interest and pride of a father. 
He counts them as his jewels; and when he hears of 
their success, their usefulness, and their honors, his 
heart leaps within him, as he thinks, "they were my 
pupils." Even though he may have wasted the strength 
of his best days in the service, what a reivard is this for 
the teacher ! 

V. Useful Calling. — The teacher has the consciousness 
of leing engaged in a useful and honorable calling. 
What though he may not become rich in this world's 
goods ? AVho would not prefer above houses and lands, 
infinitely above all the wealth of earth, the consciousness 
of being engaged in a work of usefulness ? Man was 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 317 

made for usefulness, — and who would not desire to an- 
swer the design of his creation ? 

Educates Immortal Minds. — My pen is too feeble to 
attempt to portray the usefulness of the faithful teacher. 
He educates the immortal mind, — wakes it to thought, 
— trains it to discipline — self -discipline, — moves it to 
truth and virtue, — fills it with longings for a more per- 
fect state, and sends it forth to exert its powers for good 
through all coming time! "To this end," in the glow- 
ing language of Professor Agnew, "he communicates 
a knowledge of letters, opens out gradually before the 
child the book of Nature and the literature of the world; 
he disciplines his mind and teaches him how to gather 
knowledge from every source; he endeavors to impart 
quickness and retentiveness of memory, to cultivate a 
refined and well-regulated imagination; to task, and thus 
to give vigor, to his reasoning powers. He points out 
the appropriate objects of the several affections, and the 
proper exercise of the passions; he gives lessons to con 
science, derived from the pure fountain of God's own 
Revelation, and teaches him to subject his own will to 
the Highest Will. He instructs him in the various sci- 
ences, and thus displays before him worlds of wondrous 
interest, and invests him with the sources and means of 
pure enjoyment. He trains him for the sweet sympa- 
thies of social life, and unfolds before him the high 
behests of duty — duty to himself, his fellow-creatures, 
his famil}?-, his God. 

The Infant Becomes a Man. — "Under such a tui- 
tion, behold the helpless infant grown to manhood's 
prime — a body well developed, strong, and active; a 
mind symmetrically unfolded, and powers of intellection 
closely allied to those of the spirits in celestial spheres! 



3l8 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

He becomes a husband and a father; in these, and in 
all the relations of life, he performs well his part. 
Above all, he is a Christian, with well-trained affections 
and a tender conscience, supremely loving God, main- 
taining a constant warfare with the world, the flesh, and 
the devil — growing up into the stature of a perfect man 
in Christ, and anticipating the fulness of joy and 
pleasure for evermore which are at God^s right hand. 
The time of his departure at length arrives: he has 
fought the good fight, he has finished his course, and he 
goes to obtain his crown and to attune his harp, and 
forever to dwell on the hills of light and love, where 
angels gather immortality. Oh, what a transit — from 
the dependent helplessness of infancy to the glory of a 
seraph; from mind scarcely manifested to mind rang- 
ing over the immensity of Jehovah's empire, and rising 
in the loftiest exercises of reason and affection ! And 
hotv much has the faithful teacher had to do i7i fitting 
him for the blissful mansions of the shies!" 

No Limits to Usefulness.— If such be the teacher's 
work, where is the limit to his usefulness ? Yet he may 
do this not for one merely, but for scores, or even hun- 
dreds. Eternity alone can display the immeasurable, 
inconceivable usefulness of one devoted teacher. 

Why Honorable ? — And is not the teacher's calling 
honorable ? It is — for its usefulness makes it honor- 
able. To scatter the light of truth is always honorable. 
So some of the greatest and best men the world ever 
saw have believed, and have illustrated their faith by 
their practice. Confucius, Socrates, Seneca, Aristotle, 
and Plato were specimens of the teachers of ancient 
date. Eo^er, Aschnm. John Milton, Francke, Pesta- 
lozzi. Arnold, m,^ a host of others have adorned the 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 319 

profession in later times. 'Yet these are men who have 
taught the world to think. Their works live after them, 
and will continue to live, when the proud fame of the 
mighty warriors who have marked their course in blood 
shall have perished from the earth. 

Our Great Men Began as Teachers. — If it were 
necessary and not invidious, how many distinguished 
men in our own country could be mentioned who have 
been teachers of the young, or who are still engaged as 
such ! Besides those who have made teaching the busi- 
ness of their lives, how many have been temporarily 
employed in this calling ! Some of our presidents, many 
of our governors, most of our jurists and divines — in- 
deed, some of every profession, " a7id of the chief women 
not a feio" — have first distinguished themselves as 
school-teachers. Well m^ay teachers, then, regard their 
profession as an honorable one; always remembering, 
however, that " it is not the position which makes the 
man honorable, but the man the position,^^ 

VI. Gratitude of Pupils. — The teacher enjoys the 
graieful rememhra7ice of his pupils and of their friends. 
When a distinguished writer said, " God be thanked for 
the gift of mothers and schoolmasters ! " he expressed 
but the common sentiment of the human heart. The 
name of parent justly enkindles the warmest emotions 
in the heart of him who has gone out from his native 
home to engage in the busy scenes of the work-day 
world; and when sometimes he retires from the com- 
panionship of new-made friends to recall the picture of 
the past and the loved of other days, to think — 

"Of childish joys when bounding boyhood knew 
No grief, but chased the gorgeous butterfly, 
And gambord with the breeze, that tossed Rbot]t 
His silken curls-'" 



320 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

how sweetly do the gentle influences of home and 
childhood, with all their tender and hallowed associa- 
tions, come stealing over the soul! The world is for- 
gotten; care may not intrude upon this sacred hour; 
objects of sense are unheeded; the call to pleasure is 
disregarded ; — while the rapt soul introverted — trans- 
ported—dwells with unspeakable delight upon its con- 
secrated recollection of all that is venerable, all that is 
sacred, in the name of parent. At this favored hour, 
how the heart swells at the thought of a mother^s love ! 
The smiles, the kind words, the sympathy, the counsels, 
the prayers, the tears — how fondly the memory treasures 
them all up, and claims them for its own ! And though 
Death may have long since intruded, and consigned 
that gentle form to the cold earth, rudely sundering the 
cherished bonds of affection, and leaving the hearth- 
stone desolate — though Change may have brought 
strangers to fell the favorite tree, to remove the ancient 
landmarks, to lay waste the pleasant places, and even to 
tread thoughtlessly by the humble mound that marks 
the revered spot where " departed worth is laid " — 
though Time, " with his effacing fingers," may have 
been busy in obliterating the impressions of childhood 
from the mind, or in burying them deeply beneath the 
rubbish of perplexing cares — still the true heart never 
tires with the thought of a fond parent, nor ever ceases 
to '^ thank God upon every remembrance" of a pious, 
devoted mother ! 

Teacher Next to Parents. — Thus it should ever be. 
Nothing on earth should be allowed to claim the grati- 
tude which is justly due to judicious parents. But 
the faithful, devoted teacher, the former of youthful 
character and the guide of youthful study, will be sure 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. 32 1 

to have the next place in the grateful heart. Whether 
the young man treads the deck of the noble ship, in 
his lonely watch, as she proudly walks the water by 
night — or journeys among strangers in foreign lands, — 
wherever he goes, or however employed — as often as his 
thoughts revisit the scenes of his childhood, and dwell 
with interest upon the events that marked his youthful 
progress, he will recur to the old familiar schoolhouse, 
call up its well-remembered incidents — its joys and its 
sorrows — its trials and its triumphs — its all-pervading 
and ever-abiding influences, and devoutly thank God 
for the gift of a faithful, self-denying, imtient teacher. 

Gratitude of Parents.— But the teacher is rewarded, 
also by the gratitude of parents and friends. Some of 
the sweetest moments a teacher ever experiences are 
those when a parent takes him by the hand, and, with 
cordial sincerity and deep emotion, thanks him for what 
he has done for his child. It may have been a way- 
ward, thoughtless, perhaps a vicious boy, whom kind 
words and a warm heart on the part of the teacher 
have won back to the path of rectitude and virtue. 

Widow's Gratitude. — I have seen an old lady — and I 
shall never forget the sight — bending under the infirmi- 
ties of age, — blind, and yet dependent mainly upon her 
labor for support, invoking the richest of Heaven's bless- 
ings upon the head of a teacher, who, by kindness and 
perseverance, had won back her wayward grandson to 
obedience and daty. How her full soul labored as she 
described the change that had taken place! Her emo- 
tion — too deep for utterance in words — found expres- 
sion only in tears that streamed from her sightless eyes! 
She felt that her boy was again a child of hope and 
promise, and that he might yet be a virtuous and a use- 



^22 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHiNG. 

ful man. The world may raise its empty acclamation to 
honor the man of power and of fame; it may applaud 
the statesman and weave the chaplet for the conqueror's 
brow, — but the teacher, humble and obscure though he 
may be, who is the object of the widow's gratitude for 
being the orphan's friend, with the consciousness of 
deserving it, is a happier, I had almost said a greater ^ 
man. Surely j he receives a greater reward ! 

VII. Approval of Heaven — The faithful teacher 
enjoys the approval of Heaven. He is employed, if he 
has a right spirit, in a heavenly mission. He is doing 
his Heavenly Father's business. That man should be 
made wiser and happier is the will of Heaven. To 
this end the Son of God — the Great Teacher — cam.e to 
bless our race. So far as the schoolmaster has the 
gpirit of Jesus, he is engaged in the same great work. 
Heaven regards with complacency the humble efforts 
of the faithful teacher to raise his fellow-beings from 
the darkness of ignorance and the slavery of super- 
stition; and if a more glorious crown is held in reserve 
for one rather than another, it is for him who, un- 
cheered by worldly applause and without the pros- 
pect of adequate reward from his fellow-men, cheerfully 
practises the self - denial of his Master, spending his 
strength, and doing with diligence and patience *' what- 
soever his hand findeth to do " towards raising his fel- 
low-beings to happiness and heaven. 

The Teacher's Epitaph.— It is such a teacher that the 
eloquent and gifted Lord Brougham describes in the 
following beautiful language: — 

''He meditates and prepares, in secret, the plans 
which are to bless mankind ; he slowly gathers around 
him those who are to further their execution; h© 



THE REWARDS OF THE TEACHER. }2} 

quietly though firmly advances in his humble path, 
laboring steadily but calmly till he has opened to the 
light all the recesses of ignorance, and torn up by the 
roots the weeds of vice. His progress is not to be com- 
pared with anything like the march of the conqueror; 
but it leads to a far more brilliant triumph, and to lau- 
rels more imperishable than the destroyer of his spe- 
cies, -the scourge of the world, ever won. Each one of 
these great teachers of the world, possessing his soul 
in peace, performs his appointed course, awaits in pa- 
tience the fulfilment of the promises, and resting from 
his labors, bequeaths his memory to the generation 
whom his works have blessed, and sleeps under the 
humble but not inglorious epitaph commemorating 
' 07ie in whom mankind lost a Jriend, and no man got 
rid of an enemy/ " 

Cease Repining — In view of what has been said, let 
the teacher cease to repine at his hard lot. Let him 
cast an occasional glance at the bright prospect before 
him. He deserves, to be sure, a higher pecuniary re- 
ward than he receives; and he should never cease to 
•press this truth upon the community till talent in 
teaching is as well compensated as talent in any other 
calling. But whether he gains this or not, let him 
dwell upon the privileges and rewards to be found in 
the calling itself, and take fresh encouragement. 

How He can Magnify His Office.— The apostle Paul 
exhibited great wisdom when he said, " I magnify mine 
offxe" If the foregoing views respecting the importance 
of the teacher's calling are correct, he nmy safely follow 
the Apostle's example. This is not, however, to be done 
merely by boastful words. No man can elevate himself, 
or magnify his office in public estimation by indulging 



}24 THEORY AND ART OF TEACHING. 

in empty declamation, or by passing inflated resolutions. 
He must /eeZ the dignity of his profession, and show 
that he feels it by unremitted exertions to attain to the 
highest excellence of which he is capable — animated, 
in the midst of his toil, chiefly by the great morfd 
recompense which every faithful teacher may hope to 
receive. 

Final Reward. — Let every teacher, then, study to 
improve himself intellectually and morally; let him 
strive to advance in the art of teaching; let him watch 
the growth of mind under his culture and take the en- 
couragement which that affords; let him consider the 
usefulness he may effect and the circumstances which 
make his calling honorable; let him prize the gratitude 
of his pupils and of their parents and friends, and, above 
all, let him value the approval of Heaven, and set a 
proper estimate upon the rewards which another world 
will unfold to him; and thus be encouraged to toil on 
in faithfulness and in hope, till, having finished his 
course, and being gathered to the home of the righteous, 
he shall meet multitudes, instructed by his wise precept, 
and profited by his pure example, who " shall rise up 
and call him blessed." 



THE ElifD. 



